Hopefully by the time I'm done with this blog, I should be able to blog about current affairs! Won't that be great!?
So after the surprisingly fabulous mini-cruise to Spain, back to the real world! Resumed work at Chiswick the next day. Colin and Aleka were away on holiday to Greece, and Natalie was having some time off, meaning I was the only one around. It's amazing how trusting the Sheppards can be, allowing a relatively complete stranger in me have complete access to their house! I'd only been with them for about 3 months, and they didn't even blink twice about leaving me with pretty much full access to their house. What if I was some Nigerian crook (won't that be surprising!) merely biding my time? Would have had a field day selling all their stuff and stealing all their money, if indeed they keep any money in their house. But in a way, I guess it was nice to know that they trusted me that much! They are pretty decent and nice people, and you sometimes wonder why there aren't more people like them in the world!
So yeah, everything was back to normal early January with everyone back. But I was nervous pretty much every time I got an email, because I was expecting either an invitation to interview or a failed application notice from the job I applied for. I hadn't mentioned the application to Aleka or Colin, even though I'd used both of them as referees. Didn't think it was necessary, especially as they'd have been expecting me to make applications, anyway.
An email eventually came, but it was to Colin's email. With Colin not being fully computer-literate (the only gadget he uses is his Blackberry), Natalie saw the email first, and already my heart was thumping! It was a letter asking Colin for a reference. Aleka also got a similar email. They obviously had no clue what for initially, but I told them the details and we discussed it briefly, and Aleka seemed very sure I'd get the job! My brain obviously went into overdrive! Were they asking for references because I was definitely going to get interviewed? Was everyone's referees getting the same email? Couldn't get much work that day, and just kept on checking my email over and over again.
With interviews scheduled for 19 January, I finally got an email on the 6th. I remember when the email came through, I couldn't bring myself to open it, and had to get Natalie to open and read the email for me! You can imagine the relief when it turned out that it was good news! I could finally breathe!
Can't really remember much of what happened in those two weeks (probably because nothing much happened!), but I tried to prepare for the interview as much as I could. Read my cv and cover letter again just to remember what I wrote in it! I emailed my lecturer-friend, Johanna, to see if she had any idea what it'll be like and stuff. She didn't really know much, other than that there'll be a panel of 3. Filippo Lorenzon, Yvonne Baatz and Charles Debattista. I was a bit relieved, because all 3 of them had taught me during my LLM. Not that they knew me personally, but at least I was familiar with them, and kind of knew what kind of characters they are. I also called the Secretary, Anita, to see if I could find out anything from her, but she pretty much told me what Johanna said.
I also remembered from checking the website, that they had someone, Matt, who was filling in temporarily, as Jennifer had left almost suddenly, so he was filling in until the next month or so, when he started his training contract in a Law firm. So I called him up the day before to find out more about the job, what he's been up to, so I could casually mention it in the interview when they asked me what I knew about the role that I spoke to Matt, blah blah blah, just to show that I had done my research well, haha! And also in the hope that might know what type of questions they might ask, as he most likely was interviewed before got the job, you never know! And he actually did tell me one of the questions they might ask! He was like they might ask you what you'd do in a situation whereby one of the lecturers wants you to do something for them by a particular deadline, and another person comes to you with a similar deadline. How would you deal with it? My initial answer to that would have been that I'd prioritise and try to do the most important one first, etc, but Matt was like the answer they would be looking for is communication. That I should mention that I'd let both of them know about the other person's deadline, just so they both know what's going on. So I filed that in my brain, just in case.
Since he was being very chatty, I also asked him if he knew anything about the candidates they were interested in, how many people were being interviewed, etc. And he actually knew! I think he said 8-12 or so people were being interviewed, out of about maybe 120 applicants or something, can't really remember the exact numbers, although I wrote them down. He also said there was some guy being interviewed who was coming all the way down from Australia or something, and he was like that person wasn't really a strong candidate, seeing as they'd like someone to start immediately. He also told me that they were interested in two candidates in particular, both of whom were Yvonne Baatz's former students. And seeing as I'd be taught by Yvonne Baatz, that made me even more nervous!
So interview the next day. Got there about 30 minutes early, tried to read the the articles I'd had published, which were on my cv, as Johanna had told me that I'd probably get a question about it. I was too nervous, so was only able to browse through all but one. And you guessed it, I got asked about it! It was a very simple question though, about what the article was about. I knew it was on arbitration, but couldn't for the life of me remember the exact bit it was on. Talk about embarrassing! That question was from Charles. He also asked me another question, this time on a specific area of maritime law, and I did not know the answer! What made it worse was that the next day at work, the work I had to do was on the answer! If only the interview had come after, not before! Sigh. I answered Filippo and Yvonne's questions well, at least! Yvonne did ask me the exact same question Matt had told me about, and thank God, I remembered the answer the Matt told me was more important. She kept nodding her head all through, so that was a good sign, I thought! I was worried about not answering Charles' questions right. Oh yeah, I also got asked where I saw myself in 5 years. Although Johanna had told me that I'd be asked that question, I still stumbled!
I remember thinking to myself that maybe I'd be the only black girl being interviewed, and who knows, they might hire me just so as not to seem racist! What a silly thing to think! And ofcourse, the next person being interviewed turned out to be a black girl! That was that theory out of the water, straight away!
All in all, I wasn't too happy about my interview, as I didn't think I did well enough. But I'd done all I could do. The rest was in God's hands. All I could do was wait.
Okay, this post is getting WAYYY to long! And like every good season finale, there has to be a Part 2! But not to worry, it's a double-bill, so it's coming up right away, after the obligatory advert break... ;-)
Sunday, July 03, 2011
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Christmas, huh?
First of all, apologies for the youtube spam last two posts, but I was just in some crazy music mood that day, it was ridiculous! Hopefully it doesn't happen again. Or rather, next time it happens, I'll steer clear of Blogger!
Anyways, so the plan was to talk about Christmas. But to be honest, I'd more interested in 'talking' about what's happening in my life right now, in terms of relationships, as I feel I need to process things- get things out of my head- as it's new territory. Besides, I spend so much time thinking about it, so it only makes sense to focus on that! So the quicker I'm done with old news, the more time I can spend on the things that matter now.
I have been meaning to write up this Christmas post ages ago, but I needed some photos off of my cousin, as my phone had a mini-meltdown one time and deleted almost all of the photos, pictures and texts on my phone, leaving random ones! :( I am yet to get them off of my cousin still, so I'll make do with what I've got, and upload the others when I get the chance to get it off my cousin.
.................................
Christmas and beyond...
Where was I? Oh yeah, finished my application in time, and all I had to do was wait. All through Christmas and new year, as interviews were scheduled for 15 January.
Christmas, last few years, have pretty much been dull for me, as I'm usually at my Aunt's, and with everywhere shut, we're literally stuck indoors all day, doing absolutely nothing! Well, eating I guess, but seeing as food doesn't really feature too high on my list of important things (awful, I know...), it's not really a highlight.
But this time around, my cousin suggested that we do something different, and go on a mini-cruise! To Spain. Just the kids. So me and my 3 cousins- Derin (girl, younger), Kunle (guy, my age), and Yinka (guy, older than me). It was a very short cruise- 24th to 27th, if I remember correctly. I had to get a visa, and knowing me, there had to be some drama involved! We didn't make up our minds early enough, so I couldn't get an early enough appointment date. Had to keep watching their website hoping someone would cancel theirs, so I could get an earlier date, although you weren't allowed to make multiple appointments! But thanks to some smart (dodgy) thinking (adding an extra number/letter to my passport number so it seemed like a different applicant), I was able to get an earlier date. Despite that, they were even like the visa probably won't be ready in time, as they needed a certain number of days to process it, and I was going to be short by one day or two. And what with it being Christmas time, they were quite busy. It was slightly funny, because this was my second time applying for a Spanish visa, and both times, I had the same issue! I got it the last time, although that wasn't as busy a time as Christmas. But I said I'd take the gamble anyways. Why not?!
Long story short, I got it in time. A couple of days early, even. Although unbelievably, I was disappointed! I really wanted it to go down to the last day, so I'd have had to dash to London on the day we were meant to leave, then dash to Portsmouth, where we were departing from, and barely make it onto the boat! Very disappointing, right? Haha.
It was a budget cruise, so we really had no expectations. I'd only just been on one in summer, but that was like a proper one, for a whole week, and a whole lot more expensive. I definitely wasn't expecting a similar experience! But we were pleasantly surprised, though. It was a small ship, and our rooms were very tiny, but for the amount we paid, it was great! I was expecting it to be like some run-down ship or something, and that we'd have tales of woe to tell, but there was nothing, absolutely nothing to complain about! We didn't pay for our meals beforehand, because we were worried it'd be naff, but in the end, we had dinner there almost every night, and the food was really good. Fairly cheap, too. Not sure whether it was Christmas Day or Boxing Day, but they had these MASSIVE turkey thighs. Absolutely MASSIVE, and totally delicious. No complaints whatsoever.
The entertainment wasn't all that, but it suited the audience, as it was mainly old people, or married couples with their young kids. We ended up just chilling on the deck, watching the activities below. Oh, we even got to play Bingo! That was quite fun, actually! But it gives you an idea of the type of people they were mainly catering to! They did have a magician on the last day, and he was brilliant! I even recorded one or two of his performances, but it's no longer on my phone! My cousin has it, so hopefully when I get it off him, I'll upload it.
It really was a good break, as we pretty much just chilled. But with nice scenery, and people to watch/laugh at! Haha, there was even this little kid, who kept trying to climb down the stairs, but her mum kept pulling her away, but she'd return to the stairs. She eventually had her way, but kinda fell at the end! It was very funny, because you knew that was exactly what was going to happen! And best of all, I got it on tape! Maybe I should send it to one of those 'You've been Framed' type shows or something and make myself 50 quid or something, haha. It's only funny because the kid was fine, I should say! I'll upload it if/when I get it.
Oh, I remember something else! Everyone who knows me ought to know that I'm a Federer-lover! Not in a crushing type way, but I just love him to bits. He's just amazing! But anyways, Derin spotted this Federer look-alike! A bad look-alike, though, but I kind of amused myself by stalking him! No, no, not that way, haha! I just kept trying to take his picture stealthily. It was really funny! But it all ended when he happened to be seating next to our table one day, when Arsenal were playing Chelsea, and we found out he was a Chelsea fan. Didn't take any more photos, as he was no longer cool! :(
We spent most of the time at sea, other than the Sunday, when we docked at Santander. It would have been fabulous if any stores and things were open, but it being a Sunday, nothing was! Well, other than the odd corner shop. At least the weather was relatively lovely. We just walked round, enjoying the scenery. Lovely place! And ofcourse, I took a photo of a Santander bank in Santander! Wouldn't you!?
Anyways, you get an idea the type of holiday it was. Very good value for money. And the last night was pretty amazing. After the magician was done, and the kids had all gone up to bed, it turned out to be a party below deck. We were up, but you could see what was going on down. There usually was a party every night, but this time around, they played love songs, and all the couples were on the dancefloor, dancing in their partner's arms. There was like a newly married couple, some who'd been married for ages, and the dj/host got them to like say stuff about themselves, and it was all really lovely. Made you wish you had that special somebody, or that they were there with you. Sigh. But ofcourse, it all had to come to an end. *Sniff*.
But it did its job. Lovely break away from the boredom of England at Christmas, with lots of memories. Not bad. Here are some of the few photos my phone was kind enough not to delete:
And unfortunately I don't have any more photos/videos, but in due course, I'll add more, hopefully.
The only thing left to blog about before I can (finally!) get into 'current affairs' is what happened with the job application. I'm very sleepy right now, so will have to do that next time.
Fingers' crossed, that'll be tomorrow night...
Anyways, so the plan was to talk about Christmas. But to be honest, I'd more interested in 'talking' about what's happening in my life right now, in terms of relationships, as I feel I need to process things- get things out of my head- as it's new territory. Besides, I spend so much time thinking about it, so it only makes sense to focus on that! So the quicker I'm done with old news, the more time I can spend on the things that matter now.
I have been meaning to write up this Christmas post ages ago, but I needed some photos off of my cousin, as my phone had a mini-meltdown one time and deleted almost all of the photos, pictures and texts on my phone, leaving random ones! :( I am yet to get them off of my cousin still, so I'll make do with what I've got, and upload the others when I get the chance to get it off my cousin.
.................................
Christmas and beyond...
Where was I? Oh yeah, finished my application in time, and all I had to do was wait. All through Christmas and new year, as interviews were scheduled for 15 January.
Christmas, last few years, have pretty much been dull for me, as I'm usually at my Aunt's, and with everywhere shut, we're literally stuck indoors all day, doing absolutely nothing! Well, eating I guess, but seeing as food doesn't really feature too high on my list of important things (awful, I know...), it's not really a highlight.
But this time around, my cousin suggested that we do something different, and go on a mini-cruise! To Spain. Just the kids. So me and my 3 cousins- Derin (girl, younger), Kunle (guy, my age), and Yinka (guy, older than me). It was a very short cruise- 24th to 27th, if I remember correctly. I had to get a visa, and knowing me, there had to be some drama involved! We didn't make up our minds early enough, so I couldn't get an early enough appointment date. Had to keep watching their website hoping someone would cancel theirs, so I could get an earlier date, although you weren't allowed to make multiple appointments! But thanks to some smart (dodgy) thinking (adding an extra number/letter to my passport number so it seemed like a different applicant), I was able to get an earlier date. Despite that, they were even like the visa probably won't be ready in time, as they needed a certain number of days to process it, and I was going to be short by one day or two. And what with it being Christmas time, they were quite busy. It was slightly funny, because this was my second time applying for a Spanish visa, and both times, I had the same issue! I got it the last time, although that wasn't as busy a time as Christmas. But I said I'd take the gamble anyways. Why not?!
Long story short, I got it in time. A couple of days early, even. Although unbelievably, I was disappointed! I really wanted it to go down to the last day, so I'd have had to dash to London on the day we were meant to leave, then dash to Portsmouth, where we were departing from, and barely make it onto the boat! Very disappointing, right? Haha.
It was a budget cruise, so we really had no expectations. I'd only just been on one in summer, but that was like a proper one, for a whole week, and a whole lot more expensive. I definitely wasn't expecting a similar experience! But we were pleasantly surprised, though. It was a small ship, and our rooms were very tiny, but for the amount we paid, it was great! I was expecting it to be like some run-down ship or something, and that we'd have tales of woe to tell, but there was nothing, absolutely nothing to complain about! We didn't pay for our meals beforehand, because we were worried it'd be naff, but in the end, we had dinner there almost every night, and the food was really good. Fairly cheap, too. Not sure whether it was Christmas Day or Boxing Day, but they had these MASSIVE turkey thighs. Absolutely MASSIVE, and totally delicious. No complaints whatsoever.
The entertainment wasn't all that, but it suited the audience, as it was mainly old people, or married couples with their young kids. We ended up just chilling on the deck, watching the activities below. Oh, we even got to play Bingo! That was quite fun, actually! But it gives you an idea of the type of people they were mainly catering to! They did have a magician on the last day, and he was brilliant! I even recorded one or two of his performances, but it's no longer on my phone! My cousin has it, so hopefully when I get it off him, I'll upload it.
It really was a good break, as we pretty much just chilled. But with nice scenery, and people to watch/laugh at! Haha, there was even this little kid, who kept trying to climb down the stairs, but her mum kept pulling her away, but she'd return to the stairs. She eventually had her way, but kinda fell at the end! It was very funny, because you knew that was exactly what was going to happen! And best of all, I got it on tape! Maybe I should send it to one of those 'You've been Framed' type shows or something and make myself 50 quid or something, haha. It's only funny because the kid was fine, I should say! I'll upload it if/when I get it.
Oh, I remember something else! Everyone who knows me ought to know that I'm a Federer-lover! Not in a crushing type way, but I just love him to bits. He's just amazing! But anyways, Derin spotted this Federer look-alike! A bad look-alike, though, but I kind of amused myself by stalking him! No, no, not that way, haha! I just kept trying to take his picture stealthily. It was really funny! But it all ended when he happened to be seating next to our table one day, when Arsenal were playing Chelsea, and we found out he was a Chelsea fan. Didn't take any more photos, as he was no longer cool! :(
We spent most of the time at sea, other than the Sunday, when we docked at Santander. It would have been fabulous if any stores and things were open, but it being a Sunday, nothing was! Well, other than the odd corner shop. At least the weather was relatively lovely. We just walked round, enjoying the scenery. Lovely place! And ofcourse, I took a photo of a Santander bank in Santander! Wouldn't you!?
Anyways, you get an idea the type of holiday it was. Very good value for money. And the last night was pretty amazing. After the magician was done, and the kids had all gone up to bed, it turned out to be a party below deck. We were up, but you could see what was going on down. There usually was a party every night, but this time around, they played love songs, and all the couples were on the dancefloor, dancing in their partner's arms. There was like a newly married couple, some who'd been married for ages, and the dj/host got them to like say stuff about themselves, and it was all really lovely. Made you wish you had that special somebody, or that they were there with you. Sigh. But ofcourse, it all had to come to an end. *Sniff*.
But it did its job. Lovely break away from the boredom of England at Christmas, with lots of memories. Not bad. Here are some of the few photos my phone was kind enough not to delete:
 | |
| First night. Tourists! :p |
 | ||
| Not a bad sunset! |
 | ||
| Christmas Day festivities |
 | |
| Santander. Not the bank, unfortunately... |
 |
| What can I say?! (Coke addict!) |
 |
| There were so many miniature dogs everywhere! Literally! |
 |
| Ice-rink somewhere... |
 |
| The day Fake-Federer's secret was revealed! :-\ |
 |
| Magician... |
 |
| Ah, took this photo, as the fat dude just got engaged/married to the girl next to him. Go figure... |
Magician... The old Derren Brown table-in-the-air move, but only video I could find.
And unfortunately I don't have any more photos/videos, but in due course, I'll add more, hopefully.
The only thing left to blog about before I can (finally!) get into 'current affairs' is what happened with the job application. I'm very sleepy right now, so will have to do that next time.
Fingers' crossed, that'll be tomorrow night...
Friday, June 17, 2011
How could I forget???
Gosh, how could I forget to add this song yesterday?! Love it so very much!
- Panic at the Disco
And the video's quite alright...
Oh, and this too! If you're a tennis fan, you'll love the video. I'll stop after this...
Oh, and this too! If you're a tennis fan, you'll love the video. I'll stop after this...
- Martin Solveig & Dragonette- Hello
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Music
I know I said the next post will be about Christmas, but this will be a short one, well, in terms of words! ;) Was listening to the Radio 1 today and most of the songs came up, and I soon as there was one I liked, a sent a link to Joel, and I've just been in a music-listening/singing mode today, more than usual!
So I thought I'd just post youtube videos of the songs I'm currently loving right now. Won't be surprised if I look back in a few weeks and wonder why on earth I liked the songs!
Oh, one more thing, it might be better to ignore the videos, as I've found out that videos almost always spoil the song! Maybe I'm just talking like a radio lover, but I can't count the number of times I've wished I hadn't seen some videos, as Joel will testify...
So anyways here they are, in no particular order:
'You turned out to be the best thing I never had'. Luckily I have never been in that position before!
"Excuse me, but I might drink a little bit more than I should tonight. And I might take you home with me if I could tonight. Baby imma make you feel so good tonight!' Haha, love Pitbull! Well, kinda...
'I like the way that you talk dirty. Don't wash your mouth out I like it dirty.'- Oooh, Nicole! Tut tut! haha
But I just love Nicole! Maybe it's the Lewis Hamilton connection, I dunno, but I just do. And oh, I wish I had her body.
It might not be in English, but that's what Google Translate is for. 'Alors on danse'!
'Oh, oh! I want some more! Oh oh, what are you waiting for, what are you waiting for?! Say goodbye to my hear tonight!'
Pendulum are just great, no need to say more.
Not a Nicki Minaj fan, but that's two of hers in a row...
So cheesy or whatever, but I was loving it today.
And you can't talk about Foo Fighters without mentioning this:
SO gorgeous and inspirational, too!
'But, tonight, I crossed the line! I used to know her when my house was sober. I, could find, lessons in life, over and over, is it really over?'
Wow, that's quite a lot of songs! And I've been disturbing the peace, listening and singing along, but who cares, right? ;) )
I don't really have a favourite genre, well- as you probably guessed!- but I like pretty much all that can be found in the current top 40 charts, which I listen to on iplayer every week.
Just one more, and who better to end with that Adele!? I love pretty much all her songs (well, those I know), but I'll end with this:
'There's a side, to you, that I never knew...'
So I thought I'd just post youtube videos of the songs I'm currently loving right now. Won't be surprised if I look back in a few weeks and wonder why on earth I liked the songs!
Oh, one more thing, it might be better to ignore the videos, as I've found out that videos almost always spoil the song! Maybe I'm just talking like a radio lover, but I can't count the number of times I've wished I hadn't seen some videos, as Joel will testify...
So anyways here they are, in no particular order:
- Beyoncé - Best Thing I Never Had.
'You turned out to be the best thing I never had'. Luckily I have never been in that position before!
- Pitbull, ft. Ne-Yo, Afrojack, Nayer- Give Me Everything
"Excuse me, but I might drink a little bit more than I should tonight. And I might take you home with me if I could tonight. Baby imma make you feel so good tonight!' Haha, love Pitbull! Well, kinda...
- Nicole Scherzinger (aka shirt-singer)- Right There
'I like the way that you talk dirty. Don't wash your mouth out I like it dirty.'- Oooh, Nicole! Tut tut! haha
But I just love Nicole! Maybe it's the Lewis Hamilton connection, I dunno, but I just do. And oh, I wish I had her body.
Above & Beyond, feat. Richard Bedford- Thing Called Love
- Lady Gaga- The Edge of Glory
- Stromae- Alors On Danse
It might not be in English, but that's what Google Translate is for. 'Alors on danse'!
- Alexander Stan- Mr Saxobeat
- Neon Trees- Animal
'Oh, oh! I want some more! Oh oh, what are you waiting for, what are you waiting for?! Say goodbye to my hear tonight!'
- Pendulum- Crush
- Pendulum- Watercolour
Pendulum are just great, no need to say more.
David Guetta Ft. Nicki Minaj Flo-Rida- Where Dem Girls At
- Nicki Minaj- Super Bass
Not a Nicki Minaj fan, but that's two of hers in a row...
- Scouting for Girls- Love How It Hurts
So cheesy or whatever, but I was loving it today.
- DJ Fresh ft. Sian Evans- Louder
- Foo Fighters- Walk
And you can't talk about Foo Fighters without mentioning this:
SO gorgeous and inspirational, too!
- My Chemical Romance- Bulletproof Heart
- The Prodigy- Invaders Must Die
- The Last Shadow Puppets- The Age of Understatement
- Mark Ronson & The Business Intl, feat. Boy George- Somebody To Love Me
'But, tonight, I crossed the line! I used to know her when my house was sober. I, could find, lessons in life, over and over, is it really over?'
- Ludovico Einaudi- I Giorni
Wow, that's quite a lot of songs! And I've been disturbing the peace, listening and singing along, but who cares, right? ;) )
I don't really have a favourite genre, well- as you probably guessed!- but I like pretty much all that can be found in the current top 40 charts, which I listen to on iplayer every week.
Just one more, and who better to end with that Adele!? I love pretty much all her songs (well, those I know), but I'll end with this:
- Adele- Set Fire to the Rain
'There's a side, to you, that I never knew...'
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Chiswick contined.
So. Internship over. Part-time work about to start. I should state at this point how indebted I am to Aleka and Colin. Not only did they not have to take me on as an intern, they also did not have to take me on as part-time staff, because to be honest, they probably could have done without me. There were literally times when there wasn't work for me to do, and Colin would have to think up some random work for me to do, whether it be writing case summaries of arbitration cases he probably knows from cover to cover, or admin stuff that isn't really urgent.
Having said that, it was good for Natalie that I was there, meaning she could take days off, knowing full-well that Colin wouldn't be stranded, as I could type and send whatever emails he needs to send, print out his emails for him, and do other admin stuff, like make invoices. Working in arbitation is definitely a viable career option. You automatically invoice £150 for every nomination you get (everytime a party sends you an email asking you to be the arbitrator on a case), and most of the time, the dispute settles without you having to do any work, and you've earned the easiest £150 you can ever get! And once you have contacts and are established, you can get as many as 3 nominations per week! And also, for every email you get/send, you get to bill the client/ I learned a whole lot about being a self-employed arbitrator, and don't be surprised if when I retire- and build up my contacts-that I become an arbitrator. Free money! Haha. That said though, it is really hard work, like Colin will testify! I definitely will consider it many many many years down the line. I even did this "Introduction to Arbitration" course at the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, thanks to my dad, and I can even become an Associate Member, if I pay membership fees. See, that's the beginning! ;)
So yeah, with Chiswick being a part-time role, I obviously needed to focus on getting a more permanent role. Pretty much what I was doing before Chiswick, but Chiswick being there to keep me sane! I'd learnt from Johanna (lecturer-friend) about this shipping law case- the Cendor Mopu that was being heard in the Supreme Court (former House of Lords) towards the end of August, which I went for. Not like I had anything better to do, anyways! It was a 2-day hearing, and I went for the second day. There were a few people there, who I knew from Uni, one being Jennifer Lavelle, one of only two English people on my course. We chatted at lunchtime, and I found out from her that her employment contract (as a Research Assistant at the Institute of Maritime Law, University of Southampton) was running out, and she wasn't sure whether she'd renew it. I was pretty interested in her job, to be honest. She said she wasn't really sure if she'd stay on or not, but she did say that if she didn't stay on, the job would get re-advertised on the Uni jobs page. Would you believe I actually bookmarked the page and kept checking pretty much everyday, in case something would come up. (As usual, I've got my dates wrong, and it was actually end of July! I'm like a month out of sync, what's going on!?). Anyways, kept checking the page since the hearing, end of July, like a stalker. Oh, and like a proper stalker, stalked Jennifer's facebook page, just to see whether she'd mention anything about it.
So that's how August rolled by, September, then October, then November. You'd have thought I'd have given up by then. A similar role did apply on the website, but it wasn't in maritime law, and I didn't get it. Then sometime towards the end of November, I got a message from Johanna, telling me that Jennifer had gotten a job in Geneva, at UNCTAD, meaning, obviously, that her position was vacant, and that it'd be up on the website. Got home later that day, and no surprise, the job was already advertised. I swear the role was perfect for me! I felt that I ticked all the requirements, and there weren't asking for any experience! And even if they were, I was working at Chiswick as a Research Assistant (well, seeing as I was self-employed, I could pretty much call it anything, but the role advertised and what I was currently doing to me seemed similar), so that was experience! Boo-yah!
So perfect role, not to talk about great pay! Definitely the highest paid job out of all the ones I'd applied for previously, so I was hoping this was definitely 'the one' (it's amazing how many jobs I've hoped and prayed were 'the one's'). So yeah, the advert said latest day for applications was 20 December, meaning I had close to a month. Enough time, one would think! And it was a pretty simple application process. CV and cover letter, basically. But as it was an academic role, you need 3 referees.And none of them personal referees, I think- either professional or academic.
My cv was ready, and having used it a million times and re-edited it a million times, it was near perfect to me (or maybe it wasn't, seeing as I didn't get that many positive replies from applications!). All that needed doing was the cover letter. It wasn't really a cover letter, it was just a question which you had to answer, but the answer was pretty much what your cover letter would cover. The said question was this:
Having said that, it was good for Natalie that I was there, meaning she could take days off, knowing full-well that Colin wouldn't be stranded, as I could type and send whatever emails he needs to send, print out his emails for him, and do other admin stuff, like make invoices. Working in arbitation is definitely a viable career option. You automatically invoice £150 for every nomination you get (everytime a party sends you an email asking you to be the arbitrator on a case), and most of the time, the dispute settles without you having to do any work, and you've earned the easiest £150 you can ever get! And once you have contacts and are established, you can get as many as 3 nominations per week! And also, for every email you get/send, you get to bill the client/ I learned a whole lot about being a self-employed arbitrator, and don't be surprised if when I retire- and build up my contacts-that I become an arbitrator. Free money! Haha. That said though, it is really hard work, like Colin will testify! I definitely will consider it many many many years down the line. I even did this "Introduction to Arbitration" course at the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, thanks to my dad, and I can even become an Associate Member, if I pay membership fees. See, that's the beginning! ;)
So yeah, with Chiswick being a part-time role, I obviously needed to focus on getting a more permanent role. Pretty much what I was doing before Chiswick, but Chiswick being there to keep me sane! I'd learnt from Johanna (lecturer-friend) about this shipping law case- the Cendor Mopu that was being heard in the Supreme Court (former House of Lords) towards the end of August, which I went for. Not like I had anything better to do, anyways! It was a 2-day hearing, and I went for the second day. There were a few people there, who I knew from Uni, one being Jennifer Lavelle, one of only two English people on my course. We chatted at lunchtime, and I found out from her that her employment contract (as a Research Assistant at the Institute of Maritime Law, University of Southampton) was running out, and she wasn't sure whether she'd renew it. I was pretty interested in her job, to be honest. She said she wasn't really sure if she'd stay on or not, but she did say that if she didn't stay on, the job would get re-advertised on the Uni jobs page. Would you believe I actually bookmarked the page and kept checking pretty much everyday, in case something would come up. (As usual, I've got my dates wrong, and it was actually end of July! I'm like a month out of sync, what's going on!?). Anyways, kept checking the page since the hearing, end of July, like a stalker. Oh, and like a proper stalker, stalked Jennifer's facebook page, just to see whether she'd mention anything about it.
So that's how August rolled by, September, then October, then November. You'd have thought I'd have given up by then. A similar role did apply on the website, but it wasn't in maritime law, and I didn't get it. Then sometime towards the end of November, I got a message from Johanna, telling me that Jennifer had gotten a job in Geneva, at UNCTAD, meaning, obviously, that her position was vacant, and that it'd be up on the website. Got home later that day, and no surprise, the job was already advertised. I swear the role was perfect for me! I felt that I ticked all the requirements, and there weren't asking for any experience! And even if they were, I was working at Chiswick as a Research Assistant (well, seeing as I was self-employed, I could pretty much call it anything, but the role advertised and what I was currently doing to me seemed similar), so that was experience! Boo-yah!
So perfect role, not to talk about great pay! Definitely the highest paid job out of all the ones I'd applied for previously, so I was hoping this was definitely 'the one' (it's amazing how many jobs I've hoped and prayed were 'the one's'). So yeah, the advert said latest day for applications was 20 December, meaning I had close to a month. Enough time, one would think! And it was a pretty simple application process. CV and cover letter, basically. But as it was an academic role, you need 3 referees.And none of them personal referees, I think- either professional or academic.
My cv was ready, and having used it a million times and re-edited it a million times, it was near perfect to me (or maybe it wasn't, seeing as I didn't get that many positive replies from applications!). All that needed doing was the cover letter. It wasn't really a cover letter, it was just a question which you had to answer, but the answer was pretty much what your cover letter would cover. The said question was this:
"Please explain how your experience and skills are relevant to this post, referring to the person specification."
I had to think long about that one, because you want your answer to be perfect, ensuring that you didn't leave the tiniest bit of relevant detail out, and that you didn't include any irrelevant information, even though there wasn't a word-limit.
The other thing I had to do was find three referees. I was going to use Johanna as one of them, seeing as she works at the Uni, but she advised against it, on the basis that there might be someone who doesn't like her at the Institute, so she didn't want to jeopardise my chances. I had two other referees I could use- Colin/Aleka, and my dissertation supervisor from Southampton- Prof. Rob Merkin. Seeing as he's as well-known, if not even more, than Aleka, I really wanted him as one of them. So I emailed like 3 or 4 of my teachers from UH, to ask if they'd help out, although I left it so late, I didn't even hear from any of them until after the deadline had passed!
So the important question. Did I get my application in on time?
I don't understand myself sometimes. This was a job I wanted badly, that I'd checked the website day after day for almost 2 months, and as late as 19th December, I wasn't ready to send it off. The 'cover letter' wasn't even halfway done! My excuse was that I wasn't to leave it as late as possible, giving me more time to think of relevant stuff to add. But in the end, I managed to get it all done in time, and sent it like in the early hours of 20th December. Talk about leaving it to the last minute! Seeing as I hadn't emailed my UH teachers on time, I had to use Aleka and Colin as 2 separate referees, with Rob being the third. So at this stage, I'd done all I could you, the rest being in God's hand. With interviews meant to be held on 15th January, all I could do was wait. And ensure I enjoyed Christmas!
Gosh, it's almost 1.30am! I really ought to stop now, and go to bed! This post is pretty much done, anyways. Next blog post will be about Christmas, then! Not like much happened then, but well, Christmas comes before January! ;)
Gosh, it's almost 1.30am! I really ought to stop now, and go to bed! This post is pretty much done, anyways. Next blog post will be about Christmas, then! Not like much happened then, but well, Christmas comes before January! ;)
Friday, June 10, 2011
November/December- Chiswick and all.
The last thing I mentioned about a job, was way back in October, when I mentioned that I was interning with a Shipping Arbitrator in London (Chiswick). Then I mentioned that my internship was coming to an end, and there was a possibility of getting a job with them afterwards. Not sure I even mentioned how I got the internship in the first place, but I'll do so now.
So I finished my LLM (Maritime law) in September 2009, or technically in January 2010, which was when we got our final results, with graduation happening summer 2010. And with the bloody recession and all, I struggled to find a job. Not for want of trying, I must say! But given that at this stage, I had next to no experience, none as far as shipping law was concerned, getting a job was even more tricky.
Anyways, I resorted to calling random companies up, asking for internships or what-not. I did manage to keep myself busy somewhat, as one of my lecturers from Uni, who is the editor of a shipping journal, got me to write articles for publication, to help boost my cv. I only managed to do two, which wasn't bad, given how much research one needs to do. It is somewhat funny that this whole opportunity came about through a simple "I'm bored" facebook status update! But I digress.
So this my lecturer friend, Johanna, who keeps sending me jobs to apply for, tells me about this chap who did the LLM with me, Edward, and how he met this shipping arbitrator, Colin Sheppard, at some event, and he there and then offered him the chance to intern with him for a month, which he did, and she suggests I give him a call. I'd been doing that recently anyways, so it wasn't a problem. You only live once, eh?
So I call him up randomly one morning, and I tell him I'm interested in interning with him, if that was a possibility. He obviously is surprised, as I'd called him up out of the blue, but he's like I should send him my cv, and he'll discuss it with his wife, ,who's away in Greece. Odd, I thought. Why on earth does he need to discuss it with his wife!? But at least I got a somewhat positive response, so a good thing, I thought.
Few days later, probably Sunday, I see a missed call on my phone, and a voicemail too, and turns out it's Colin's wife. I call the number back and she suggests I come for an interview sometime in the week. Can't remember what day it was. (See, I should have just watched episode 5 when it aired, as I can't really remember what happened in the other epiosdes! Oh well...)
Anyways, I go down to Chiswick for the interview. It was a pretty informal interview, and they just asked me what I'd been up to since Uni, etc, but not proper interview questions that you have to think hard about. I think the fact that I did my Masters at Southampton University made them interested in me (thank you, Chris Kirkbride- me Equity & Trusts lecturer at Hertforshire for telling me not to go anywhere other than Southampton for my maritime law masters, even though UH had a similar course. I'm forever indebted to you! See, that's what happens when you are an "over-sabi". I digress again, but the only reason why I was having this conversation with Chris in the first place, was because after I'd gotten my final year grades, I actually went to my teachers for a review of my exam papers, just so I knew where I had gone wrong. Like seriously, who does that after final year?! I did so, and I got good (unrelated) advice, and as far as I'm concerned, that's the only reason why I'm where I am. Where, you say? I'll get to it soon! ;))
ANYWAYS! The interview was a brief one, pretty much them trying to get to know me and stuff. I remember his wife asking me if I could do admin stuff, and I had to blag my way into that somewhat, as I had no admin-related experience. Long story short, they asked if I could start the next day! Definitely wasn't expecting that! I said that was a bit short-notice, so we agreed I'd start the next Monday- 25th October. (See, I haven't forgotten it all!)
I was literally over the moon! I wasn't going to get paid much- £100 a week to cover my expenses- but when you've been searching for a job after Uni, and you've been turned down mainly for lack of experience, you'd be ecstatic if you got something literally out of the blue which was related to the area of interest. It's like "Finally! Someone wants to give me the experience I badly need!" The day even got better, because as I was finding my way home, I got a phone call from one of the numerous jobs I'd applied for, asking me to attend an interview that week. It was a six-month contract, an administrative role, but in Miller, an insurance company that I was interested in working with. I went for the interview anyways, even though I wasn't totally interested in working in admin. I didn't get the job, which was no surprise! This time around, it was a proper interview, and what did I say when they asked me what type of role I was interested in? I pretty much said I didn't want an admin-type role. Muppet! Not that I'd have accepted the job anyways, but it was good (future) interview prep. I swear the Chiswick interview was my first real job interview, and it wasn't even a proper one! But I guess it only takes that one interview...
So that's how the Chiswick internship started. Oh, did I mention I was a muppet? Remember me wondering why Colin had to discuss things with his wife? If I'd done my research properly before making the phone-call, I'd have realised (or maybe not), who his wife was. After the interview, I remembered Colin mentioned her name- Aleka. It sort of rang a bell, so I did my (belated) research, and turns out she's Aleka Mandaraka-Sheppard, who's famous in maritime law circles, and beyond, probably. She even wrote one of the books I studied during my Masters, which was why her name rang a bell. I totally had no clue who she was during the interview! In hindsight, maybe that was a good thing...
The internship was meant to last four weeks, and afterwards, we'd discuss what was to happen next, whether I'd stay on in a more permanent role. I did enjoy those four weeks (and a bit), and although it was a bit of a pain getting there and back home everyday- St Albans to Chiswick is not a joke: bus, train, tube, tube, train, walk. But it was worth it. I didn't know too much about Shipping Arbitration at the start, but at the end, I got to draft an "Awards and Reasons" for a real case! It was a Small Claims Proceedings (SCP), so not a lot of money or drama was involved, but that's one proud moment for me! Obviously I wrote it on behalf of Colin, but I was especially glad to see that none of the parties had any complaints afterwards, and accepted MY ruling! Sweeeeeeet!
But yeah, the internship was coming to and end, so it was sort of make or break time. Was I going to stay or leave? (Actually I was wrong! The internship started last Monday in September, not October! *facepalm*) Anyways, I spoke to Aleka towards the end of October, informally, and we agreed I'd stay on, so it was just a matter of how long for, and on one terms. Colin's self-employed, so he works from home (and Aleka sometimes). He's such a very dedicated man, because he's turning 80 next year, if I remember correctly, and he works flat out everyday, just so he can afford to see his son- their only child- all throughout Uni. He's a bright boy, sha. Did his first degree in Oxford in History and Music, I think, now he's doing a second degree in Law, this time in Cambridge (or did he go to Cambridge first?) Anyways, there is a lot of money to be made in arbitration, and although Colin is hardly a poor man, he just prefers to continue working until he no longer needs to support his kid. He takes care of his health, though, so I'm not too worried for him! Colin is also computer-illiterate- he can only manage as far as a Blackberry! Meaning all his emails, Awards, Reasons, all need to be typed up by someone else. He's got a Secretary for this, as well as other admin reuquirements- Natalie. She's brilliant!
I totally didn't mind staying longer, and to be honest, I'd have stayed even if I wasn't getting paid! After Aleka changing her mind a million times, we finally agreed that I'd stay on a monthly rolling contract, 3 days a week, £10 per hour, 8 hours a day (10am-6pm), with the possibility of over-time. Not a bad deal, really. Except tax and NI were to be my responsibility, meaning I was self-employed! That was scary initially, but Natalie assured me that it wasn't a problem really, and Aleka was nice enough to get her tax accountant to email me about what I needed to do, afterall, Colin and Aleka are both self-employed.
Gosh, this is one seriously long post! And we're still in November/December! Gulp. I have missed this, though. I'll end this post here now, but I'll start on the continuation in a separate post, which I'll post at some point tomorrow.
It's good to be back! :D
So I finished my LLM (Maritime law) in September 2009, or technically in January 2010, which was when we got our final results, with graduation happening summer 2010. And with the bloody recession and all, I struggled to find a job. Not for want of trying, I must say! But given that at this stage, I had next to no experience, none as far as shipping law was concerned, getting a job was even more tricky.
Anyways, I resorted to calling random companies up, asking for internships or what-not. I did manage to keep myself busy somewhat, as one of my lecturers from Uni, who is the editor of a shipping journal, got me to write articles for publication, to help boost my cv. I only managed to do two, which wasn't bad, given how much research one needs to do. It is somewhat funny that this whole opportunity came about through a simple "I'm bored" facebook status update! But I digress.
So this my lecturer friend, Johanna, who keeps sending me jobs to apply for, tells me about this chap who did the LLM with me, Edward, and how he met this shipping arbitrator, Colin Sheppard, at some event, and he there and then offered him the chance to intern with him for a month, which he did, and she suggests I give him a call. I'd been doing that recently anyways, so it wasn't a problem. You only live once, eh?
So I call him up randomly one morning, and I tell him I'm interested in interning with him, if that was a possibility. He obviously is surprised, as I'd called him up out of the blue, but he's like I should send him my cv, and he'll discuss it with his wife, ,who's away in Greece. Odd, I thought. Why on earth does he need to discuss it with his wife!? But at least I got a somewhat positive response, so a good thing, I thought.
Few days later, probably Sunday, I see a missed call on my phone, and a voicemail too, and turns out it's Colin's wife. I call the number back and she suggests I come for an interview sometime in the week. Can't remember what day it was. (See, I should have just watched episode 5 when it aired, as I can't really remember what happened in the other epiosdes! Oh well...)
Anyways, I go down to Chiswick for the interview. It was a pretty informal interview, and they just asked me what I'd been up to since Uni, etc, but not proper interview questions that you have to think hard about. I think the fact that I did my Masters at Southampton University made them interested in me (thank you, Chris Kirkbride- me Equity & Trusts lecturer at Hertforshire for telling me not to go anywhere other than Southampton for my maritime law masters, even though UH had a similar course. I'm forever indebted to you! See, that's what happens when you are an "over-sabi". I digress again, but the only reason why I was having this conversation with Chris in the first place, was because after I'd gotten my final year grades, I actually went to my teachers for a review of my exam papers, just so I knew where I had gone wrong. Like seriously, who does that after final year?! I did so, and I got good (unrelated) advice, and as far as I'm concerned, that's the only reason why I'm where I am. Where, you say? I'll get to it soon! ;))
ANYWAYS! The interview was a brief one, pretty much them trying to get to know me and stuff. I remember his wife asking me if I could do admin stuff, and I had to blag my way into that somewhat, as I had no admin-related experience. Long story short, they asked if I could start the next day! Definitely wasn't expecting that! I said that was a bit short-notice, so we agreed I'd start the next Monday- 25th October. (See, I haven't forgotten it all!)
I was literally over the moon! I wasn't going to get paid much- £100 a week to cover my expenses- but when you've been searching for a job after Uni, and you've been turned down mainly for lack of experience, you'd be ecstatic if you got something literally out of the blue which was related to the area of interest. It's like "Finally! Someone wants to give me the experience I badly need!" The day even got better, because as I was finding my way home, I got a phone call from one of the numerous jobs I'd applied for, asking me to attend an interview that week. It was a six-month contract, an administrative role, but in Miller, an insurance company that I was interested in working with. I went for the interview anyways, even though I wasn't totally interested in working in admin. I didn't get the job, which was no surprise! This time around, it was a proper interview, and what did I say when they asked me what type of role I was interested in? I pretty much said I didn't want an admin-type role. Muppet! Not that I'd have accepted the job anyways, but it was good (future) interview prep. I swear the Chiswick interview was my first real job interview, and it wasn't even a proper one! But I guess it only takes that one interview...
So that's how the Chiswick internship started. Oh, did I mention I was a muppet? Remember me wondering why Colin had to discuss things with his wife? If I'd done my research properly before making the phone-call, I'd have realised (or maybe not), who his wife was. After the interview, I remembered Colin mentioned her name- Aleka. It sort of rang a bell, so I did my (belated) research, and turns out she's Aleka Mandaraka-Sheppard, who's famous in maritime law circles, and beyond, probably. She even wrote one of the books I studied during my Masters, which was why her name rang a bell. I totally had no clue who she was during the interview! In hindsight, maybe that was a good thing...
The internship was meant to last four weeks, and afterwards, we'd discuss what was to happen next, whether I'd stay on in a more permanent role. I did enjoy those four weeks (and a bit), and although it was a bit of a pain getting there and back home everyday- St Albans to Chiswick is not a joke: bus, train, tube, tube, train, walk. But it was worth it. I didn't know too much about Shipping Arbitration at the start, but at the end, I got to draft an "Awards and Reasons" for a real case! It was a Small Claims Proceedings (SCP), so not a lot of money or drama was involved, but that's one proud moment for me! Obviously I wrote it on behalf of Colin, but I was especially glad to see that none of the parties had any complaints afterwards, and accepted MY ruling! Sweeeeeeet!
But yeah, the internship was coming to and end, so it was sort of make or break time. Was I going to stay or leave? (Actually I was wrong! The internship started last Monday in September, not October! *facepalm*) Anyways, I spoke to Aleka towards the end of October, informally, and we agreed I'd stay on, so it was just a matter of how long for, and on one terms. Colin's self-employed, so he works from home (and Aleka sometimes). He's such a very dedicated man, because he's turning 80 next year, if I remember correctly, and he works flat out everyday, just so he can afford to see his son- their only child- all throughout Uni. He's a bright boy, sha. Did his first degree in Oxford in History and Music, I think, now he's doing a second degree in Law, this time in Cambridge (or did he go to Cambridge first?) Anyways, there is a lot of money to be made in arbitration, and although Colin is hardly a poor man, he just prefers to continue working until he no longer needs to support his kid. He takes care of his health, though, so I'm not too worried for him! Colin is also computer-illiterate- he can only manage as far as a Blackberry! Meaning all his emails, Awards, Reasons, all need to be typed up by someone else. He's got a Secretary for this, as well as other admin reuquirements- Natalie. She's brilliant!
I totally didn't mind staying longer, and to be honest, I'd have stayed even if I wasn't getting paid! After Aleka changing her mind a million times, we finally agreed that I'd stay on a monthly rolling contract, 3 days a week, £10 per hour, 8 hours a day (10am-6pm), with the possibility of over-time. Not a bad deal, really. Except tax and NI were to be my responsibility, meaning I was self-employed! That was scary initially, but Natalie assured me that it wasn't a problem really, and Aleka was nice enough to get her tax accountant to email me about what I needed to do, afterall, Colin and Aleka are both self-employed.
Gosh, this is one seriously long post! And we're still in November/December! Gulp. I have missed this, though. I'll end this post here now, but I'll start on the continuation in a separate post, which I'll post at some point tomorrow.
It's good to be back! :D
Long time.
This time around, I'm not even going to bother with an apology. There have been too many apologies of late. Let's just say it's been a crazy busy past few months in my life, and hopefully I've reached a certain level of normalcy.
So much has changed for me recently, and I've been mearning to blog about it for AGES! And the awful thing is that I couldn't really blog about things going on at the moment, without actually blogging about what's changed, in a chronological order, so as not to 'spoil' future posts. The only way I can describe is when you have a favourite show, which is always on, let's say every Thursday at 8pm. You miss an episode one week- episode..... 5, and no matter how many weeks pass, you can't watch any further episodes until you watch that episode 5. Not that you don't love that show, but you just can't watch any further episodes until you watch episode 5. You just cannot move onto episode 6 until you've seen 5.
It's been that way for me. My episode 5, as far as blogging is concerned, happened in November. And no matter how many months have passed, I'm still stuck in November. So I'm going to spend the next few hours/days 'watching' episode 5, and the rest of the episodes I've missed, so as to bring me up to date, so I can finally get to watch my favourite show when it's actually on tv.
Make sense? Basically, I'm going to blog as much as I can on the happenings since November, so that I can actually blog about current events. Not that I haven't blogged since November, I've just tried to avoid any 'spoilers'.
Anyways, I better get cracking.
So much has changed for me recently, and I've been mearning to blog about it for AGES! And the awful thing is that I couldn't really blog about things going on at the moment, without actually blogging about what's changed, in a chronological order, so as not to 'spoil' future posts. The only way I can describe is when you have a favourite show, which is always on, let's say every Thursday at 8pm. You miss an episode one week- episode..... 5, and no matter how many weeks pass, you can't watch any further episodes until you watch that episode 5. Not that you don't love that show, but you just can't watch any further episodes until you watch episode 5. You just cannot move onto episode 6 until you've seen 5.
It's been that way for me. My episode 5, as far as blogging is concerned, happened in November. And no matter how many months have passed, I'm still stuck in November. So I'm going to spend the next few hours/days 'watching' episode 5, and the rest of the episodes I've missed, so as to bring me up to date, so I can finally get to watch my favourite show when it's actually on tv.
Make sense? Basically, I'm going to blog as much as I can on the happenings since November, so that I can actually blog about current events. Not that I haven't blogged since November, I've just tried to avoid any 'spoilers'.
Anyways, I better get cracking.
Tuesday, March 08, 2011
Barcelona 3 -1 Arsenal (4-3 aggregrate).
Arsenal FC, we're by far the greatest team, the world has ever seen! And it's Arsenal!
The match's just kicked-off- 4 minutes on, now. I think my nerves have gone, now. It was probably the wait that was killing, but now WE'RE ON! So this is actually a love blog. Well kinda. I have no idea how it's going to end!
It's been so easy in the build-up, to forget that we actually have the lead. 2-1 it finished at the Emirates, just in case you forgot. So as it stands, we're going through, woohoo! I'm just rambling now, as I really cannot think straight. What's my name? Not sure I know. Is it Arsenal? Maybe, seeing as that's all that's on my mind now. Anyway I'm sure I'll remember at 10pm!
Can't believe Robin's actually starting, you know. After all the talk about him being out for 4-6 weeks! I wonder if Arsene knew all along that it would only be a short spell out, after he picked up an injury during that game.
It's been an underwhelming game so far, though, with 12 minutes gone. Whoa, spoke too soon! Messi was kinda clean through, but Koscielny did brilliantly! A wrong move and it would have been a penalty and a Red! Phew! But as I was saying, there haven't been any shots on goal, yet. To be honest, I don't mind it staying that way! Barca have had about what, 90% of the possession so far? Just a guestimate, by the way.
Oops, first yellow of the game. Koscielny. Bang on 15 minutes. Can he hang on for 65 minutes without picking up another booking? Well, he better!
Ooh, from the resulting free-kick, Szczesny seems to have picked up an injury! Dani Alves fired it straight at Szzesny and he gathered it, but he looks like he did something to his fingers. The medical team is at work now. Not sure what he did to it, though. OH NO! Almunia's warming up! And HE'S COMING ON! OH GOD! PLEASE SAVE US! And it seems everyone on my timeline feels the same. But hey, Szczesny can say he kept a clean sheet at the Nou Camp! Just don't ask him how long he played...
Oh no, is Nasri down, now? Not for long, though, thank God! I am actually shaking. I guess the nerves aren't really gone... I've got my laptop on my lap (haha), hope I don't drop it, especially if we score...
Koscielny, be careful! You're on a yellow already! Oh right, that was Robin with the foul. No fluency to this game as of yet. Neither team keeping possession. But Pedro just had a curling effort, but wide of the post! It's building. Sagna with a yellow now. What did he do!? No idea!
Ooooh! Messi just tricked his way past a few players into the box, but the awesome Mr Djourou was there at the vital time to boot it away! Haha, he just fell in the box, but no penalty! You gotta appreciate the small things at this point. Oh wait, it LOOKED a penalty! Oops!
And now Villa just had the chance to score, but his effort was weak and easy for Almnunia. Who still managed to spill it, but only about an inch in front of himself. There was someone covering anyways. Oops, he's just booted the ball against the back of one of us! But Jack was there to mop it up! Phew!
Apologies if anyone is reading this post, as they don't come any more disjointed than this! We keep losing the ball! 10 minutes to go until halftime. It's almost like a game of chess! Ooh, Adriano just hit the bar! Now free-kick to Barca. Wave after wave! But we're doing enough. Just.
Gawd, Almunia scares me. They just showed a close-up of him. Scary!
We need Arshavin.
What, a free-kick?! That so wasn't one! They better not score from here. Defended well.
Finally we attack! But a Barca player is down. Will the match ever get going?
Haha, Robin just got a corner from a ball that came off, umm, him! I told you, the small things. WILSHERE DOWN! Iniesta challenge. Whoa, handbags! Robin getting involved. Not really sure what's going on.
5 minutes of added time. Jack's back in! Yellow for Robin now. It's getting hot now.
Messi with a shot, STRAIGHT at Almunia! Bloody hell, this looks like one of those games where 1-0 will do. Hope WE score that goal!
And Messi scores. Feck. Who on earth was trying the clever back-heel on the edge of the box? Nor so clever. It was Fabregas. Straight to Iniesta, who found Messi, who found the back of the net. Wow, what a reaction from Pep. Could have done his back there! Did the commentator just say "Messy with a y for Arsenal. Messi with an I for Barcelona"? AWFUL!
Half-time. As it stands, Barca are through. Ah, TIMELY stat from Opta! "4- The team that has opened the scoring in the last four encounters between Arsenal & Barcelona have failed to win. Comeback?". I love you OptaJoe. Seriously. Will love you even more if we win!
Just seen a replay of the goal. What a pre goal-attempt flick by Messi! I've just been umm, reliably informed by Twitter that it's called a "Sombrero"!
31% possession in the first half. Umm, BLATANT lie. It was so less then that!
Oh soz, second half's started. More of the same, really. Djourou with an interception! It's all about our defence today, isn't it?
Woohoo, a corner to us! Won by Nasri. AND A GOAL! Hahahaha, Busquets! AS it stands, we're through! Oh hell, and we almost conceded straight away! And Almunia's got a kick in his face for his troubles! Right, our goal. The corner was swung in by Nasri, on to the head of Busquets, and into the net. Simple as! except ofcourse, Busquests plays for Barca!
WHOA! Red for Robin! WHAT THE HELL! He was offside, but carried on, but the ref then sent him off for having a shot! Unjust.
We're in for it now. Wave after wave, again. Almunia's just had to make a save.
Not sure if I can continue this. Dani Alves should just have scored, but he blazed it! Squeaky bum time, and we still have 30 minutes to go. Everything's shaking, now.
Save by Almunia from David Silva!
I think I can only manage to type in short bursts. Gawd, it's 67 minutes on the clock, and I just thought it'll soon be 80 minutes gone. That's how dire it is. Oh, Xavi just scored. But it's not over! Extra time and penalties as it stands. See-sawing, much?
Sigh, penalty. Koscielny on Pedro. Come on, be a hero again, Almunia! Scores. Game, set, match? This could get even messy. But Arshavin's coming on! For Rosicky. But we aren't even attacking. Not getting the chance to, really. There's been an inevitability about the game since the Red. Such an undeserved Red. In the words of Cesc, "how much are they paying you?" I jest, ofcourse. One must learn to find humour even in the deepest of pains. See, football's turned me philosophical. Cesc is off?? Understandably, really. Bentdner on. Almunia's just denied Messi his hattrick. Small mercies.
Almunia again!
5 minutes plus added time remaining. Haha, Pedro should have scored! Empty net, but he rolled it wide! Still some hope left in me. Ohhhh! Bendtner almost won it for us! But poor first touch=Barca recovery=chance gone.
Out of interest, I wonder how many efforts Barca have had. Full-time, by the way.
Not the greatest of spectacles. Felt subdued all game, but especially after the sending off. There really wasn't much more we could have done. Credit to Barca.
19 attempts, 10 on target. No attempts, none on target by us. There it is. Amazing.
Can I just end this post here? Can't really say much else right now. But as I just tweeted, "Credit to Barca. But extra credit to our boys. Played their hearts out. Champions League's only a luxury, anyway. Time to focus on league.".
The match's just kicked-off- 4 minutes on, now. I think my nerves have gone, now. It was probably the wait that was killing, but now WE'RE ON! So this is actually a love blog. Well kinda. I have no idea how it's going to end!
It's been so easy in the build-up, to forget that we actually have the lead. 2-1 it finished at the Emirates, just in case you forgot. So as it stands, we're going through, woohoo! I'm just rambling now, as I really cannot think straight. What's my name? Not sure I know. Is it Arsenal? Maybe, seeing as that's all that's on my mind now. Anyway I'm sure I'll remember at 10pm!
Can't believe Robin's actually starting, you know. After all the talk about him being out for 4-6 weeks! I wonder if Arsene knew all along that it would only be a short spell out, after he picked up an injury during that game.
It's been an underwhelming game so far, though, with 12 minutes gone. Whoa, spoke too soon! Messi was kinda clean through, but Koscielny did brilliantly! A wrong move and it would have been a penalty and a Red! Phew! But as I was saying, there haven't been any shots on goal, yet. To be honest, I don't mind it staying that way! Barca have had about what, 90% of the possession so far? Just a guestimate, by the way.
Oops, first yellow of the game. Koscielny. Bang on 15 minutes. Can he hang on for 65 minutes without picking up another booking? Well, he better!
Ooh, from the resulting free-kick, Szczesny seems to have picked up an injury! Dani Alves fired it straight at Szzesny and he gathered it, but he looks like he did something to his fingers. The medical team is at work now. Not sure what he did to it, though. OH NO! Almunia's warming up! And HE'S COMING ON! OH GOD! PLEASE SAVE US! And it seems everyone on my timeline feels the same. But hey, Szczesny can say he kept a clean sheet at the Nou Camp! Just don't ask him how long he played...
Oh no, is Nasri down, now? Not for long, though, thank God! I am actually shaking. I guess the nerves aren't really gone... I've got my laptop on my lap (haha), hope I don't drop it, especially if we score...
Koscielny, be careful! You're on a yellow already! Oh right, that was Robin with the foul. No fluency to this game as of yet. Neither team keeping possession. But Pedro just had a curling effort, but wide of the post! It's building. Sagna with a yellow now. What did he do!? No idea!
Ooooh! Messi just tricked his way past a few players into the box, but the awesome Mr Djourou was there at the vital time to boot it away! Haha, he just fell in the box, but no penalty! You gotta appreciate the small things at this point. Oh wait, it LOOKED a penalty! Oops!
And now Villa just had the chance to score, but his effort was weak and easy for Almnunia. Who still managed to spill it, but only about an inch in front of himself. There was someone covering anyways. Oops, he's just booted the ball against the back of one of us! But Jack was there to mop it up! Phew!
Apologies if anyone is reading this post, as they don't come any more disjointed than this! We keep losing the ball! 10 minutes to go until halftime. It's almost like a game of chess! Ooh, Adriano just hit the bar! Now free-kick to Barca. Wave after wave! But we're doing enough. Just.
Gawd, Almunia scares me. They just showed a close-up of him. Scary!
We need Arshavin.
What, a free-kick?! That so wasn't one! They better not score from here. Defended well.
Finally we attack! But a Barca player is down. Will the match ever get going?
Haha, Robin just got a corner from a ball that came off, umm, him! I told you, the small things. WILSHERE DOWN! Iniesta challenge. Whoa, handbags! Robin getting involved. Not really sure what's going on.
5 minutes of added time. Jack's back in! Yellow for Robin now. It's getting hot now.
Messi with a shot, STRAIGHT at Almunia! Bloody hell, this looks like one of those games where 1-0 will do. Hope WE score that goal!
And Messi scores. Feck. Who on earth was trying the clever back-heel on the edge of the box? Nor so clever. It was Fabregas. Straight to Iniesta, who found Messi, who found the back of the net. Wow, what a reaction from Pep. Could have done his back there! Did the commentator just say "Messy with a y for Arsenal. Messi with an I for Barcelona"? AWFUL!
Half-time. As it stands, Barca are through. Ah, TIMELY stat from Opta! "4- The team that has opened the scoring in the last four encounters between Arsenal & Barcelona have failed to win. Comeback?". I love you OptaJoe. Seriously. Will love you even more if we win!
Just seen a replay of the goal. What a pre goal-attempt flick by Messi! I've just been umm, reliably informed by Twitter that it's called a "Sombrero"!
31% possession in the first half. Umm, BLATANT lie. It was so less then that!
Oh soz, second half's started. More of the same, really. Djourou with an interception! It's all about our defence today, isn't it?
Woohoo, a corner to us! Won by Nasri. AND A GOAL! Hahahaha, Busquets! AS it stands, we're through! Oh hell, and we almost conceded straight away! And Almunia's got a kick in his face for his troubles! Right, our goal. The corner was swung in by Nasri, on to the head of Busquets, and into the net. Simple as! except ofcourse, Busquests plays for Barca!
WHOA! Red for Robin! WHAT THE HELL! He was offside, but carried on, but the ref then sent him off for having a shot! Unjust.
We're in for it now. Wave after wave, again. Almunia's just had to make a save.
Not sure if I can continue this. Dani Alves should just have scored, but he blazed it! Squeaky bum time, and we still have 30 minutes to go. Everything's shaking, now.
Save by Almunia from David Silva!
I think I can only manage to type in short bursts. Gawd, it's 67 minutes on the clock, and I just thought it'll soon be 80 minutes gone. That's how dire it is. Oh, Xavi just scored. But it's not over! Extra time and penalties as it stands. See-sawing, much?
Sigh, penalty. Koscielny on Pedro. Come on, be a hero again, Almunia! Scores. Game, set, match? This could get even messy. But Arshavin's coming on! For Rosicky. But we aren't even attacking. Not getting the chance to, really. There's been an inevitability about the game since the Red. Such an undeserved Red. In the words of Cesc, "how much are they paying you?" I jest, ofcourse. One must learn to find humour even in the deepest of pains. See, football's turned me philosophical. Cesc is off?? Understandably, really. Bentdner on. Almunia's just denied Messi his hattrick. Small mercies.
Almunia again!
5 minutes plus added time remaining. Haha, Pedro should have scored! Empty net, but he rolled it wide! Still some hope left in me. Ohhhh! Bendtner almost won it for us! But poor first touch=Barca recovery=chance gone.
Out of interest, I wonder how many efforts Barca have had. Full-time, by the way.
Not the greatest of spectacles. Felt subdued all game, but especially after the sending off. There really wasn't much more we could have done. Credit to Barca.
19 attempts, 10 on target. No attempts, none on target by us. There it is. Amazing.
Can I just end this post here? Can't really say much else right now. But as I just tweeted, "Credit to Barca. But extra credit to our boys. Played their hearts out. Champions League's only a luxury, anyway. Time to focus on league.".
Tuesday, March 01, 2011
The joys of being an Arsenal fan... (Part 2)
So. Where was I? Ah, Newcastle. 0-3 and cruising, chow mein being the only difficult part of the day. The room was absolutely buzzing! The 4th goal duly came with 26 minutes on the clock. 26 minutes, 4 goals. Newcastle fans were already fearing the worst, some already leaving the stadium, not able to handle it anymore. That's got to be some record! First half not yet over and the walk-outs have already began! One would have thought we were at the Emirates! (Joke!). But yeah, the first half was brilliant, and it was disappointing that we didn't score anymore in the 19 minutes left in that half. What an absolutely useless team! 4 goals in 26 minutes, 0 in 19 minutes?! There should have been a refund! I jest, ofcourse. There were similar jokes on Twitter, everyone was all jolly.
Second half kicked-off, and we wanted more of the same. But as that football cliche goes, it is a game of two halves! Pretty sure NO ONE would have predicted what happened subsequently at half-time, and it all would not have happened (probably) if not for a moment of madness. Actually, maybe some of the events were predictable. Ofcourse Joey Barton would try his hardest to do something stupid/rile our players. Ofcourse Joey Barton doing something stupid to rile our players would lead to someone getting sent off if they took the bait. Ofcourse one of our players being sent off would increase the pressure on us defensively, us being away. Ofcourse Joey Barton doing something stupid/riling our players, one of them who then takes the bait, them then getting sent off, thus increasing the pressure on us defensively would lead to us conceding goals. Ofcourse Joey Barton being Joey Barton, one of our players taking the bait, then getting sent off, then increasing the pressure on us defensively, then us conceding goals, would lead to us maybe conceding four. Ofcourse... I'll stop there. You get my point.
It wasn't predictable ofcourse, but it wasn't all that surprising in the end. Joey pissed Diaby off. Diaby got sent off. Newcastle pressured us. We cracked. They scored 4. End of. Oh wait! I remember, it was not that simple! First thing to go wrong for us in the second half was Djourou going off injured. Massive blow, he being our best defender since our other best defender Vermaelen got injured all those years ago. Not cool. Then shortly after was the Joey Barton/Diaby incident. I was pretty mad that day. But who was I mad at? I wasn't, and I am still not, too sure. Maybe Diaby for taking the bait? He could have retaliated in a more sensible manner- tackled him equally as badly, but when the referee was not watching. He could have punched him when the whistle went off. So many things he could have done, but in the heat of the moment, do you actually think that deeply? Or maybe I was furious with Joey Barton. He is a hideous creature and him simply being on the pitch is enough to make you angry. How DARE he tackle one of our players so recklessly, especially Diaby with his history of ankle injury caused by a similar tackle? How DARE he be Joey Barton! But well, he is, and he did do what he did. And it did lead to Diaby being sent off. And it did... and so on.
So that was the red card. Then came the goals. A penalty (scored by Joey Barton ofcourse). Then a goal. Then another penalty scored by. Then a screamer of a winner, sorry equaliser, 3 minutes from time. The first penalty. Was that the dodgy one? Well, in my mind right now, BOTH were dodgy! Oh, and after the penalty, Nolan should have been sent off for arm-wrestling Szczesny to the ground, which was in effect the same thing Diaby did! But the end result? A yellow to Szczesny for keeping hold of the ball after the penalty. In all honesty it was all Newcastle at this point, but it could all have ended differently if Nolan had been sent off. Their first goal came after 68 minutes (Diaby's red was after 50 minutes), and less than 10 minutes later, the second one came. Leon Best. I can't remember what the goal was like (and you can't blame me for not wanting to relive it!), but it was a deserved goal. Deserved in the sense that just a minute or so before, they had put the ball in the net , but the linesman flagged someone offside. But they weren't, as Rosicky was playing them on!
It was crazy at that point! Newcastle had the wind in their sails, and we were rocking! It was almost like we were a ship that's been sailing smoothly, and all of a sudden, one wrong steer and we were in the worst weather ever! Were we going to sink? Or were we going to survive, but with our ship severely hit by the storm? 15 minutes more and we'd be at shore! Could we hold on? We weren't helped by the most ridiculous refereeing decision ever! Since when was that a penalty??? There'd be millions of penalties every game if that was a genuine penalty. It wasn't! But not according to the referee. Unbelievable. And who was there to tuck it in, if not the probably-grinning-from-ear-to-ear-on-the-inside Joey Barton. At this point I wouldn't have minded if one of our players had seriously decked him! Well, obviously that would have been highly stupid, but it would have been perfect in that moment! But anyway, he tucked it in, and the pressure on our increasingly fragile "boat" was immense! 8 minutes plus injury-time to score a goal and complete- cliche time- the comeback of all comebacks!
Wish I had a picture of how Club level looked at that point in time! Everyone was probably like me- on the edge of their seats praying like MAD that we'd hold on! But their 4th duly came, Tiote blasting in from long range! The only positive from that game was that the Newcastle fans who had left before half time had missed an UNBELIEVABLE match! all that's left now is for the same to happen to their Emirates counterparts... Not that I want us to concede 4 goals in a miserable first half display, but you know what I mean. But anyways, I digress!
4-4, and with 4 minutes to go, and 5 minutes of time added on, either team could have gotten the winner! Although it would have been cruel on the other side, but we both came close! I think the Newcastle effort was dragged only just past the post, whereas van Persie's brilliant effort was offside. Not that we knew immediately, as we all thought we'd nicked it! But full time eventually came. Who'd have thunk it? Breathless stuff! In all that drama, it totally skipped my mind that Sol was on the bench! He didn't get on in the end, though.
I think it was one of those incredible football games- like the 4-4 at Anfield- where it'd be a pointless exercise faulting one person or the other. It was simply a brilliant game of football, and one that demonstrated exactly why we all love the game. It's unpredictable, and is at its best when there is a complete disregard for the script. It almost felt as if there was nothing we could have done about the game- it was meant to happen. Match of the Day didn't even have it in them to criticise us! It was just one of those extraordinary games that come about every once in a while. And luckily for us, it turned out to be a decent weekend for us, what with Manchester United losing their (fortunate) unbeaten run to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Wait, what? Oh sorry, Wolves at Molineux! See? That was an even worse result than ours! And I think Chelsea lost as well that weekend. It was a generally bizarre weekend, football-wise, and we ended up closing the gap to Man. Uinted by a point! I know, I know, we could and should have closed it by 3, but at the same time, we could well have lost!
Memorable game, though, and I guess that's the whole point of sports. Lasting memories. This blog is pretty long already, so umm, it's high time I called it a day! And oh, I missed hip-hop classes! Well, intentionally, but I was looking forward to it yesterday. Maybe I'll go next week...
I'm going to head home soonish- Chelsea v Manchester United in on in an hour and 15 minutes! Awesome! *Squeaky voice* Come on Chelsea! Bleurgh!
Oh, if I ever say I'm going to an away screening, punch me so hard, that I'll be knocked out until the game is over! ;)
Second half kicked-off, and we wanted more of the same. But as that football cliche goes, it is a game of two halves! Pretty sure NO ONE would have predicted what happened subsequently at half-time, and it all would not have happened (probably) if not for a moment of madness. Actually, maybe some of the events were predictable. Ofcourse Joey Barton would try his hardest to do something stupid/rile our players. Ofcourse Joey Barton doing something stupid to rile our players would lead to someone getting sent off if they took the bait. Ofcourse one of our players being sent off would increase the pressure on us defensively, us being away. Ofcourse Joey Barton doing something stupid/riling our players, one of them who then takes the bait, them then getting sent off, thus increasing the pressure on us defensively would lead to us conceding goals. Ofcourse Joey Barton being Joey Barton, one of our players taking the bait, then getting sent off, then increasing the pressure on us defensively, then us conceding goals, would lead to us maybe conceding four. Ofcourse... I'll stop there. You get my point.
It wasn't predictable ofcourse, but it wasn't all that surprising in the end. Joey pissed Diaby off. Diaby got sent off. Newcastle pressured us. We cracked. They scored 4. End of. Oh wait! I remember, it was not that simple! First thing to go wrong for us in the second half was Djourou going off injured. Massive blow, he being our best defender since our other best defender Vermaelen got injured all those years ago. Not cool. Then shortly after was the Joey Barton/Diaby incident. I was pretty mad that day. But who was I mad at? I wasn't, and I am still not, too sure. Maybe Diaby for taking the bait? He could have retaliated in a more sensible manner- tackled him equally as badly, but when the referee was not watching. He could have punched him when the whistle went off. So many things he could have done, but in the heat of the moment, do you actually think that deeply? Or maybe I was furious with Joey Barton. He is a hideous creature and him simply being on the pitch is enough to make you angry. How DARE he tackle one of our players so recklessly, especially Diaby with his history of ankle injury caused by a similar tackle? How DARE he be Joey Barton! But well, he is, and he did do what he did. And it did lead to Diaby being sent off. And it did... and so on.
So that was the red card. Then came the goals. A penalty (scored by Joey Barton ofcourse). Then a goal. Then another penalty scored by. Then a screamer of a winner, sorry equaliser, 3 minutes from time. The first penalty. Was that the dodgy one? Well, in my mind right now, BOTH were dodgy! Oh, and after the penalty, Nolan should have been sent off for arm-wrestling Szczesny to the ground, which was in effect the same thing Diaby did! But the end result? A yellow to Szczesny for keeping hold of the ball after the penalty. In all honesty it was all Newcastle at this point, but it could all have ended differently if Nolan had been sent off. Their first goal came after 68 minutes (Diaby's red was after 50 minutes), and less than 10 minutes later, the second one came. Leon Best. I can't remember what the goal was like (and you can't blame me for not wanting to relive it!), but it was a deserved goal. Deserved in the sense that just a minute or so before, they had put the ball in the net , but the linesman flagged someone offside. But they weren't, as Rosicky was playing them on!
It was crazy at that point! Newcastle had the wind in their sails, and we were rocking! It was almost like we were a ship that's been sailing smoothly, and all of a sudden, one wrong steer and we were in the worst weather ever! Were we going to sink? Or were we going to survive, but with our ship severely hit by the storm? 15 minutes more and we'd be at shore! Could we hold on? We weren't helped by the most ridiculous refereeing decision ever! Since when was that a penalty??? There'd be millions of penalties every game if that was a genuine penalty. It wasn't! But not according to the referee. Unbelievable. And who was there to tuck it in, if not the probably-grinning-from-ear-to-ear-on-the-inside Joey Barton. At this point I wouldn't have minded if one of our players had seriously decked him! Well, obviously that would have been highly stupid, but it would have been perfect in that moment! But anyway, he tucked it in, and the pressure on our increasingly fragile "boat" was immense! 8 minutes plus injury-time to score a goal and complete- cliche time- the comeback of all comebacks!
Wish I had a picture of how Club level looked at that point in time! Everyone was probably like me- on the edge of their seats praying like MAD that we'd hold on! But their 4th duly came, Tiote blasting in from long range! The only positive from that game was that the Newcastle fans who had left before half time had missed an UNBELIEVABLE match! all that's left now is for the same to happen to their Emirates counterparts... Not that I want us to concede 4 goals in a miserable first half display, but you know what I mean. But anyways, I digress!
4-4, and with 4 minutes to go, and 5 minutes of time added on, either team could have gotten the winner! Although it would have been cruel on the other side, but we both came close! I think the Newcastle effort was dragged only just past the post, whereas van Persie's brilliant effort was offside. Not that we knew immediately, as we all thought we'd nicked it! But full time eventually came. Who'd have thunk it? Breathless stuff! In all that drama, it totally skipped my mind that Sol was on the bench! He didn't get on in the end, though.
I think it was one of those incredible football games- like the 4-4 at Anfield- where it'd be a pointless exercise faulting one person or the other. It was simply a brilliant game of football, and one that demonstrated exactly why we all love the game. It's unpredictable, and is at its best when there is a complete disregard for the script. It almost felt as if there was nothing we could have done about the game- it was meant to happen. Match of the Day didn't even have it in them to criticise us! It was just one of those extraordinary games that come about every once in a while. And luckily for us, it turned out to be a decent weekend for us, what with Manchester United losing their (fortunate) unbeaten run to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Wait, what? Oh sorry, Wolves at Molineux! See? That was an even worse result than ours! And I think Chelsea lost as well that weekend. It was a generally bizarre weekend, football-wise, and we ended up closing the gap to Man. Uinted by a point! I know, I know, we could and should have closed it by 3, but at the same time, we could well have lost!
Memorable game, though, and I guess that's the whole point of sports. Lasting memories. This blog is pretty long already, so umm, it's high time I called it a day! And oh, I missed hip-hop classes! Well, intentionally, but I was looking forward to it yesterday. Maybe I'll go next week...
I'm going to head home soonish- Chelsea v Manchester United in on in an hour and 15 minutes! Awesome! *Squeaky voice* Come on Chelsea! Bleurgh!
Oh, if I ever say I'm going to an away screening, punch me so hard, that I'll be knocked out until the game is over! ;)
Monday, February 28, 2011
The joys of being an Arsenal fan...
Ah, Arsenal. I have so much to say, but the first thing I ought to say is that I love Arsenal. Well, obviously. It's a weird one, but no matter how many times the team disappoints, when you look at things in the cold light of day, you cannot help but love them more! I did say it was weird...
Anyways, where was I? The last time I blogged, I mentioned that I was going to the Newcastle live screening, right? And what a memorable game that was! Shame it id for all the wrong reasons...
I planned to get to the Emirates early, when I got to Finsbury Park where I was to meet Chris, I found out that he'd be quite late, meaning I had to walk all the way to the Ems on my own. In hindsight, that was NOT a good sign! Anyways, so as not to be "on my own" for too long, I walked as slowly as possible, although it was ridiculously windy, I would have been better off walking as fast as possible!
Got to the Emirates on time (ofcourse) got my drink, found somewhere comfortable to stay whilst waiting for Chris. Pre-match entertainment was Charlie George answering a few questions. Just your bog-standard questions, nothing remarkable.
The general mood was one of quiet confidence. There were no nerves or anything, it seemed. 5 minutes until kick-off, still no Chris, so went to have a look at the pitch (through the plexi-glass) where they were doing that thing they usually do with the UV lights, I think?
It looked cool! I almost missed the first goal as a result! Newcastle feels like a million years ago, given what happened on that day and yesterday, but we did have our good moments. Theo's goal was amazing, less then 40 seconds in as well! And before we were off that high, goal number two! This time by Djourou. Chris hadn't turned up still at this point, and I was extra pleased I didn't choose to wait for him. (I'd learnt my lesson before! I remember the Blackburn game last season that finished 6-2. We went for the game together, but unfortunately, he had the tickets. I say unfortunately because he was so late, we could only make the second half! Lucky for me I waited for him outside the Arsenal shop, where they were showing the game, so I didn't miss any of the goals. Would have been much better to have been in the stadium for the half, ofcourse, especially as it was 3-2 at the end of the half! Sorry, Chris!)
Anyways, less than 5 minutes gone, and it was 0-2 already, and HUGE smiles on everyone's face (or is it faces? Nevermind!), and oh, there Chris is! Had to find somewhere else to stay as there weren't any seats where I was and it wasn't the most convenient place to stay. But seeing as there were screens everywhere, finding somewhere else to stay wasn't a problem. Went round the corner, had to move a few chairs over, but eventually found a decent enough spot, but before we could contemplate sitting, 0-3! Robin! Pretty much sure EVERYONE, including the Newcastle players thought it was game over at that time. Ofcourse it was! Oh wait...
I'd bought myself some Chinese from the Arsenal restaurant (bloody pricey it was, but I couldn't resist! Not because I thought it'd be great, but because it was at the Emirates!) And seeing as they think everyone at the Emirates can handle using chopsticks, that's what was available. I remember thinking to myself that I was having more trouble dealing with my chicken chow mein that the boys were having going through the Newcastle defence! Famous last words (thoughts), huh?
But umm, on that note, I gotta go! It's 7.30pm and I'm still at work! Need to catch the bus in 10 minutes! Will continue tomorrow! (Sorry Yinka!) :-) I'm sure I'll get round to Birmingham at some point tomorrow! ;-)
Anyways, where was I? The last time I blogged, I mentioned that I was going to the Newcastle live screening, right? And what a memorable game that was! Shame it id for all the wrong reasons...
I planned to get to the Emirates early, when I got to Finsbury Park where I was to meet Chris, I found out that he'd be quite late, meaning I had to walk all the way to the Ems on my own. In hindsight, that was NOT a good sign! Anyways, so as not to be "on my own" for too long, I walked as slowly as possible, although it was ridiculously windy, I would have been better off walking as fast as possible!
Got to the Emirates on time (ofcourse) got my drink, found somewhere comfortable to stay whilst waiting for Chris. Pre-match entertainment was Charlie George answering a few questions. Just your bog-standard questions, nothing remarkable.
 |
The general mood was one of quiet confidence. There were no nerves or anything, it seemed. 5 minutes until kick-off, still no Chris, so went to have a look at the pitch (through the plexi-glass) where they were doing that thing they usually do with the UV lights, I think?
It looked cool! I almost missed the first goal as a result! Newcastle feels like a million years ago, given what happened on that day and yesterday, but we did have our good moments. Theo's goal was amazing, less then 40 seconds in as well! And before we were off that high, goal number two! This time by Djourou. Chris hadn't turned up still at this point, and I was extra pleased I didn't choose to wait for him. (I'd learnt my lesson before! I remember the Blackburn game last season that finished 6-2. We went for the game together, but unfortunately, he had the tickets. I say unfortunately because he was so late, we could only make the second half! Lucky for me I waited for him outside the Arsenal shop, where they were showing the game, so I didn't miss any of the goals. Would have been much better to have been in the stadium for the half, ofcourse, especially as it was 3-2 at the end of the half! Sorry, Chris!)
Anyways, less than 5 minutes gone, and it was 0-2 already, and HUGE smiles on everyone's face (or is it faces? Nevermind!), and oh, there Chris is! Had to find somewhere else to stay as there weren't any seats where I was and it wasn't the most convenient place to stay. But seeing as there were screens everywhere, finding somewhere else to stay wasn't a problem. Went round the corner, had to move a few chairs over, but eventually found a decent enough spot, but before we could contemplate sitting, 0-3! Robin! Pretty much sure EVERYONE, including the Newcastle players thought it was game over at that time. Ofcourse it was! Oh wait...
I'd bought myself some Chinese from the Arsenal restaurant (bloody pricey it was, but I couldn't resist! Not because I thought it'd be great, but because it was at the Emirates!) And seeing as they think everyone at the Emirates can handle using chopsticks, that's what was available. I remember thinking to myself that I was having more trouble dealing with my chicken chow mein that the boys were having going through the Newcastle defence! Famous last words (thoughts), huh?
But umm, on that note, I gotta go! It's 7.30pm and I'm still at work! Need to catch the bus in 10 minutes! Will continue tomorrow! (Sorry Yinka!) :-) I'm sure I'll get round to Birmingham at some point tomorrow! ;-)
Saturday, February 05, 2011
Happy anniversary to me...
So it's been a year this week since I wrote my first post on here. 2nd of February, to be exact. Feels so long ago. I started one because... not really sure to be honest, it just seemed like a good idea. I lot has changed in my life over the past year, and it hurts a bit that I haven't been able to blog here as much as I would have loved to. But what hasn't changed is the fact that I love writing. I just haven't been able to do that much of it these past few months.
But new 'year', new beginnings, right? I haven't been really settled this past year, but by the end of this month, there will be proper structure to my life and I promise, yes PROMISE, that I will blog more. Honest. There's more I want to write now, but it'd spoil future posts, so I'll hold off for a bit.
This is my first post this year actually (very awful effort), so umm, happy new year! It's never too late to say it, alright?
We've (Arsenal, ofcourse!) been doing pretty well this season, and I'm really optimistic we'll win something this season. We're in the final of the Carling Cup, yay! I may not be going to Wembley for it, but I'm glad I went to the two home games we had in the competitions and I'm glad I was part of those who were able to 'help' the team get to the final. Would have been brilliant if I was going to Wembley, but I'm not mad that I didn't get the chance to get tickets for it.
I haven't been to that many games this season, but hopefully that will change soon. We play Newcastle away today, 3pm. It's not on tv ofcourse, it being a 3pm Saturday game, but I will be going to the Emirates to watch it, as they were nice enough (well, for the small sum of £8) to have the game screened live in club level, so I'll be able to watch it. I'm not reminding you what happened the only other time I've been to one of those live sceenings. It was the Sp*rs away game last season...
But yeah, hopefully the boys do the business.
And hopefully it doesn't take me another 4 months to write my next post!
But new 'year', new beginnings, right? I haven't been really settled this past year, but by the end of this month, there will be proper structure to my life and I promise, yes PROMISE, that I will blog more. Honest. There's more I want to write now, but it'd spoil future posts, so I'll hold off for a bit.
This is my first post this year actually (very awful effort), so umm, happy new year! It's never too late to say it, alright?
We've (Arsenal, ofcourse!) been doing pretty well this season, and I'm really optimistic we'll win something this season. We're in the final of the Carling Cup, yay! I may not be going to Wembley for it, but I'm glad I went to the two home games we had in the competitions and I'm glad I was part of those who were able to 'help' the team get to the final. Would have been brilliant if I was going to Wembley, but I'm not mad that I didn't get the chance to get tickets for it.
I haven't been to that many games this season, but hopefully that will change soon. We play Newcastle away today, 3pm. It's not on tv ofcourse, it being a 3pm Saturday game, but I will be going to the Emirates to watch it, as they were nice enough (well, for the small sum of £8) to have the game screened live in club level, so I'll be able to watch it. I'm not reminding you what happened the only other time I've been to one of those live sceenings. It was the Sp*rs away game last season...
But yeah, hopefully the boys do the business.
And hopefully it doesn't take me another 4 months to write my next post!
Sunday, October 17, 2010
London buses!
Another post! Like London buses, eh? Wait ages for one, then two come along at the same time! ;)
Quick one this time around, though, with a number songs I like a lot (There are others, just can't remember them right now!). Don't like Taio Cruz, but I like these two songs!
And this one by 'The Wanted', although the video made me question why I like it! I think some songs ARE better without videos!
That's it for now, laters! :)
Quick one this time around, though, with a number songs I like a lot (There are others, just can't remember them right now!). Don't like Taio Cruz, but I like these two songs!
And this one by 'The Wanted', although the video made me question why I like it! I think some songs ARE better without videos!
That's it for now, laters! :)
Hi! :)
Last post, 9th August 2010! Awful! Not that I haven't had anything to blog about, but I've been sorta busy and I'll admit, my attention's been elsewhere. Joel, it's all your fault, you know! Haha.
But yeah, that last post was so so long ago! A day before my 22nd birthday, and Joel's too. And it rained that day, unbelievable! Isn't it annoying when it rains on your birthday, especially as it's meant to be summer and all! And I didn't have a birthday cake! For the first-time ever! Don't really know how that happened. Probably because I was dithering for ages over what to to do. Wanted to do the 'Go Ape' thing at first, then thought paintballing, then LaserTag. Then it turned out a friend was getting married on the weekend I wanted to do something, so I decided to do that instead! Cop-out, more like! Wanted to bake a cake the day before my birthday, but I don't remember, I was either too lazy or tired so didn't bake one. But considering I had 4 cakes in total last year, it's not too bad. But I'll still doubling the cakes I have next year!
It's been a crazy few months, though. But unfortunately, there hasn't been much of Arsenal involved. I've only been to one game this season, and that was pre-season even, at the Emirates Cup. And I've been slacking totally. I hardly ever go on ATVO even though I keep renewing my monthly membership. I never know who's injured until when the line-up's revealed! But at least I have been following the games. Having said that, there've been one or two games this season that I've seen zero highlights of! Really bad. We've been a bit dodgy this season as well, which doesn't help! It's still early days though, and hopefully we'll nick a trophy or two!
But I still bleed red and white, and even if I've not been as up-to-date as I usually am, I still manage to follow all the games. And I'm going to the Emirates soon! See, I've not totally pushed Arsenal aside! I'm going to the West Ham game end of the month with Chris, and that should be fun! Hopefully I get to go to more games this season, but this is a good start!
Oh, and I have a job! Okay well, I'll know for definite by the end of this week, but for the past three weeks, I've been interning at a Shipping Arbitrator's in London. The plan was for it to be an internship/trial period for 4 weeks, then depending on how things go, it might turn out to be a more permanent role. I think it's been going well so far, but I guess you can't really be too sure! We'll see what happens at the end of this week, as the 4 weeks are up on Friday! But it's been good fun, though. Not easy, but fun. Although my hours aren't the usual 9-5. I start at 10.30am, to finish at 6.30pm. Usually leave home at 8am, and don't get back until about 8pm/9pm, depending on the buses! It's always tight, as the train gets to St Albans at about 7.55pm, and there's meant to be a bus at 7.55pm, about two minutes' walk away! I've been lucky though, as most times, the bus has been a bit late, meaning I get to the bus stop just in time, or having to wait a few minutes for it. But the other day, I missed it! The next one was an hour later, but there's meant to be another bus 35-40 minutes after the one I missed, but for some reason, it didn't come on time, so I ended up being stuck at the bus stop for almost an hour! And it was raining as well! But at least, I was under the bus stand so didn't get wet! It was very frustrating, as I wasn't sure whether I'd missed the bus or not, because usually, I'd see the bus drive past on my way to the stop, or the bus stop would be empty, which it wasn't. So you spend the first 10-20 minutes thinking, 'the bus might be here soon'. Then you give up, but you think, 'The other bus might be here soon', as it's usually early, and before you know it, you're there for an hour! If I'd known for sure that I'd missed the bus, I could have gotten myself some dinner, especially as the bus stop's right opposite Frango's (Nando's rip-off, but with better chicken!). I love Frango's! But I didn't want to go in to order something, as I kept thinking I'd miss the bus! Or I could have taken a cab home! A bit expensive, but at least I get home at a decent time! By the time I eventually got home, was too tired to even have dinner! Awful! But luckily, I've only ever had to miss the bus a couple or so times.
I might change my hours to 10am to 6pm though. And I wouldn't even have to leave the house any earlier! Usually when I leave at 8am, if I went straight to work, I'd get there for 10am, but seeing as I'd be 30 minutes early, I usually just mess about in the mornings, deliberately miss the train, or do a bit of shopping! Funny the other day, I took a detour to go find some KFC. But the Victoria line was acting up, and I ended up getting to work 10 minutes late! Even worse was the fact that it turned out that they don't actually serve chicken that early (9.30am thereabouts), so I ended up having something off their breakfast menu. No chicken! But at least it was nice! But yeah, the point is, might be much better if I just went to work straight, got there at 10am and left at 6pm, as it'd mean I'd get home about quarter to 8, which is decent enough! But anyways, I should get the job first before thinking of alternatives!
Pictures, pictures! I've got loads to upload! Holiday pictures, Arsenal stadium and museum tour, and other random bits! But it takes AGES on Blogger! I finally have a Flickr account, but I've uploaded zero pictures as of now! It might be easier to upload pictures there, so I'll give it a go one of these days, and post a link up here. No guarantees I'll be doing it any time soon, though!
I don't know if I've ever mentioned driving lessons on here, but I have been taking lessons for some time now. And I finally did my theory test, after changing dates a million times, it seems! But I did really well! I guess you only need to not fail it, but I actually proper studied for it, so I got all the theory questions right, and the hazard perception bit I passed very well too! Can't remember the scores though. Wait, I hope I haven't lost that paper, as I'll need to find it when I'm taking my practical test! But yeah, been having lessons, and it's really good fun! I had my first 'night' lesson last night and it was the best! I should have more 'night' lessons...
Anyways, enough drivel! That's only a snippet of all the things I've had to say the last few months, but unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your point of view!), I've forgotten most of the rest! Lucky sods! Hey, I mean that in a nice way! But yeah, I haven't lost the art of rambling on and on, I've just not found the time, shame on me. And I still remember how to get on this page! (Good thing I had it bookmarked! ;))
I'll stop now, and I do hope it's not another two and a half months before my next post! Someone shoot me if that's the case! ;)
Oh yeah, something to do when you're bored, 'UrbanDictionary' your name! Should be funny...
Got some stick from Joel for liking the Bee Gees, but I'll leave you with this!
But yeah, that last post was so so long ago! A day before my 22nd birthday, and Joel's too. And it rained that day, unbelievable! Isn't it annoying when it rains on your birthday, especially as it's meant to be summer and all! And I didn't have a birthday cake! For the first-time ever! Don't really know how that happened. Probably because I was dithering for ages over what to to do. Wanted to do the 'Go Ape' thing at first, then thought paintballing, then LaserTag. Then it turned out a friend was getting married on the weekend I wanted to do something, so I decided to do that instead! Cop-out, more like! Wanted to bake a cake the day before my birthday, but I don't remember, I was either too lazy or tired so didn't bake one. But considering I had 4 cakes in total last year, it's not too bad. But I'll still doubling the cakes I have next year!
It's been a crazy few months, though. But unfortunately, there hasn't been much of Arsenal involved. I've only been to one game this season, and that was pre-season even, at the Emirates Cup. And I've been slacking totally. I hardly ever go on ATVO even though I keep renewing my monthly membership. I never know who's injured until when the line-up's revealed! But at least I have been following the games. Having said that, there've been one or two games this season that I've seen zero highlights of! Really bad. We've been a bit dodgy this season as well, which doesn't help! It's still early days though, and hopefully we'll nick a trophy or two!
But I still bleed red and white, and even if I've not been as up-to-date as I usually am, I still manage to follow all the games. And I'm going to the Emirates soon! See, I've not totally pushed Arsenal aside! I'm going to the West Ham game end of the month with Chris, and that should be fun! Hopefully I get to go to more games this season, but this is a good start!
Oh, and I have a job! Okay well, I'll know for definite by the end of this week, but for the past three weeks, I've been interning at a Shipping Arbitrator's in London. The plan was for it to be an internship/trial period for 4 weeks, then depending on how things go, it might turn out to be a more permanent role. I think it's been going well so far, but I guess you can't really be too sure! We'll see what happens at the end of this week, as the 4 weeks are up on Friday! But it's been good fun, though. Not easy, but fun. Although my hours aren't the usual 9-5. I start at 10.30am, to finish at 6.30pm. Usually leave home at 8am, and don't get back until about 8pm/9pm, depending on the buses! It's always tight, as the train gets to St Albans at about 7.55pm, and there's meant to be a bus at 7.55pm, about two minutes' walk away! I've been lucky though, as most times, the bus has been a bit late, meaning I get to the bus stop just in time, or having to wait a few minutes for it. But the other day, I missed it! The next one was an hour later, but there's meant to be another bus 35-40 minutes after the one I missed, but for some reason, it didn't come on time, so I ended up being stuck at the bus stop for almost an hour! And it was raining as well! But at least, I was under the bus stand so didn't get wet! It was very frustrating, as I wasn't sure whether I'd missed the bus or not, because usually, I'd see the bus drive past on my way to the stop, or the bus stop would be empty, which it wasn't. So you spend the first 10-20 minutes thinking, 'the bus might be here soon'. Then you give up, but you think, 'The other bus might be here soon', as it's usually early, and before you know it, you're there for an hour! If I'd known for sure that I'd missed the bus, I could have gotten myself some dinner, especially as the bus stop's right opposite Frango's (Nando's rip-off, but with better chicken!). I love Frango's! But I didn't want to go in to order something, as I kept thinking I'd miss the bus! Or I could have taken a cab home! A bit expensive, but at least I get home at a decent time! By the time I eventually got home, was too tired to even have dinner! Awful! But luckily, I've only ever had to miss the bus a couple or so times.
I might change my hours to 10am to 6pm though. And I wouldn't even have to leave the house any earlier! Usually when I leave at 8am, if I went straight to work, I'd get there for 10am, but seeing as I'd be 30 minutes early, I usually just mess about in the mornings, deliberately miss the train, or do a bit of shopping! Funny the other day, I took a detour to go find some KFC. But the Victoria line was acting up, and I ended up getting to work 10 minutes late! Even worse was the fact that it turned out that they don't actually serve chicken that early (9.30am thereabouts), so I ended up having something off their breakfast menu. No chicken! But at least it was nice! But yeah, the point is, might be much better if I just went to work straight, got there at 10am and left at 6pm, as it'd mean I'd get home about quarter to 8, which is decent enough! But anyways, I should get the job first before thinking of alternatives!
Pictures, pictures! I've got loads to upload! Holiday pictures, Arsenal stadium and museum tour, and other random bits! But it takes AGES on Blogger! I finally have a Flickr account, but I've uploaded zero pictures as of now! It might be easier to upload pictures there, so I'll give it a go one of these days, and post a link up here. No guarantees I'll be doing it any time soon, though!
I don't know if I've ever mentioned driving lessons on here, but I have been taking lessons for some time now. And I finally did my theory test, after changing dates a million times, it seems! But I did really well! I guess you only need to not fail it, but I actually proper studied for it, so I got all the theory questions right, and the hazard perception bit I passed very well too! Can't remember the scores though. Wait, I hope I haven't lost that paper, as I'll need to find it when I'm taking my practical test! But yeah, been having lessons, and it's really good fun! I had my first 'night' lesson last night and it was the best! I should have more 'night' lessons...
Anyways, enough drivel! That's only a snippet of all the things I've had to say the last few months, but unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your point of view!), I've forgotten most of the rest! Lucky sods! Hey, I mean that in a nice way! But yeah, I haven't lost the art of rambling on and on, I've just not found the time, shame on me. And I still remember how to get on this page! (Good thing I had it bookmarked! ;))
I'll stop now, and I do hope it's not another two and a half months before my next post! Someone shoot me if that's the case! ;)
Oh yeah, something to do when you're bored, 'UrbanDictionary' your name! Should be funny...
Got some stick from Joel for liking the Bee Gees, but I'll leave you with this!
Monday, August 09, 2010
Friday, July 16, 2010
I've missed you!!!
I am ofcourse referring to Arsenal (and blogging)! The season, well pre-season football atleast, starts tomorrow and I'm excited as anything! Maybe now with Arsenal to watch and talk about, I can return to something close to normalcy, re blogging. As I mentioned before, it's not really a lack of stuff to write about- I've still got loads of holiday pictures to post and chat about- but it's just that spark that's been missing, and hopefully my love for writing about Arsenal and inane things will be re-ignited once those boys (whichever 11) take to the field again tomorrow against Barnet, our usual (pre) season opener. Wow, that's one long sentence!
Thanks to that wonderful and lovely distraction called the World Cup, I haven't really suffered from the usual off-season Arsenal withdrawal symptoms, and I'm very ashamed to say I've hardly been on ATVO, and the last 2 Premier League games last season which I missed while I was away, I haven't watched. Not even a single highlight! So Carlos Vela's chip against Fulham, I can only imagine what it was like. I'm not sorry I haven't seen the highlights of the Blackburn game, though. The less seen or said about it, the better! But I'm sure I'm bound to relive that disaster sometime during the course of the season! Anyways...
Oh yeah, I was out for a party last week Saturday, and I've got a story to tell! Not so much about the party, but the getting there!
(It's quite a long tale, so why not listen to some music!? One of my favourite (and timeless) songs- Toploader's Dancing in the Moonlight! Please excuse the poor quality, but you only need to listen, ayways! ;-)
So it was Esther's brother's (denim and white themed) house party, all the way in some place in Eest London I'd never heard of before, Purfleet. The plan was to go to Chris' house first, as I don't live to far from him, watch the World Cup 3rd place play-off- Germany v Uruguay- then go to the party.
All was looking well and good. It was a really good game, and we even stayed a bit longer and watched James Corden's World Cup show. Don't really know what it's called as one always feels the urge to change the channel whenever the show comes on, but as our very own Arshavin was on it, why not?!
Anyways, we finally got our act together and left at about half 10 thereabouts, and got to Hatfield station. Just missed a train so had to catch the next one, which was at about 11pm. The plan was to find our way to Limehouse, then catch the C2C from there to Purfleet. Got to Limehouse, only to find we'd missed the last train to Purfleet. Apparently the last train was ages ago, too! The only way to go was back, so we went back a stop to Fenchurch station, hoping to find someone at the station who could I don't know, tell us an alternative route or something. Got there, and the advice was to take the train to Barking, then from there, either take the bus or a cab to Purfleet. Didn't sound like a bad idea, except that the next train wasn't for another 30 or so minutes, and this was already getting to midnight. So Chris and I decided to just cab it from where we were to Purfleet. How hard could that be, right?
Went outside the station to find one, but there wasn't any. The taxi ramp was empty and not being from London, didn't have any can numbers. So we spoke to a couple of the guys working at the station asking where to get a cab, and they're like there's a bus stop round the corner, you might find one there. So we get to the bus stop and not surprisingly, there wasn't any. We were just trying to get our bearings right when this 'not in service' bus stops in front of us. The bus driver- a really nice mature Caribbean dude, Jamaican I think- opens the door and is like, 'Do you know the last bus has gone already?', and he's like where are you going? So we tell him that we're trying to get to Purfleet and he's like jump on the bus, I'll drop you somewhere closeby, then take the bus 25 to Barking, which was really really nice of him. So he drops us off at a bus stop a few minutes away.
So we're at the bus stop trying to figure out where exactly we are and what direction we need to travel. Turns out we're close to Monument station. We do see a Bus 25, but I figured it'd be much quicker if we took the underground from there to Barking. So we don't get on the bus. We're about to start walking to the underground station, when this guy at the Bus stop is like 'Erm, it's a Saturday, the undergrounds are shut already'. Damn. We get talking, where are you going, blah blah blah. He was on his way to Dagenham, and he suggests we get on a cab together, since according to him, Dagenham's on the way to Purfleet. We're perfectly happy with this, because in all honesty, we really didn't have a clue which way to go or anything. Finding the cab is the problem, though.
There was this cab at the bus stop, an Addison Lee cab, but he's like he's not in service and gives us his company's number to call. Hurrah! But it's one of those 0844 numbers, which you can't dial on your contract phone, and you get charged some funny amount. But I had a pay as you go phone on me as well, so I decide to use that instead. It turns out to be one of those automated services, so I got put on hold for a bit, then finally got to speak to someone called Joel. But just as I'm about to finalise the whole thing, I run out of credit. Awesome. To make things worse, I was actually starving! And it's not your usual hunger, but the type where you're stomach is totally empty and you can't take a step without your stomach hurting. Really clueless to why I was that hungry, as I'd just eaten before we left, even though I didn't eat that much. But yeah, we're kinda stranded, and I'm dead hungry, and no shops or anything around are open. Two things I always have in my bag are a tube map and a bottle of water. Obviously, not the same bottle of water all the time, but a bottle of water. But this time around, I didn't have either, and desperately needed them! Water would have been absolutely fine for me at that stage, as I felt drinking lots of liquid was what I needed. Also needed a tube map really badly as I honestly didn't have any clue as to how near or far we were from our destination, or which direction we had to go! But thank God for smartphones! Was able to download a tube map (now permanently saved on my phone). Shame there's no water app!
Anyways, so the dude we met at the bus stop, Dan, is like he thinks there's a cab company around and that we should just walk in and book a cab there and then, so we start walking. I'm in absolute agony, but I didn't have much of a choice, anyways. So we start walking, and chat some more to Dan. Turns out it was his birthday that day, and he'd just been out with a few mates and was trying to get home. He's hungry too, and then tells us that he's a head chef! If only he had some sort of food on him, right? Anyways, we walk from Monument to London Bridge, and come across a Kebab shop! Awesome! I get myself a can of coke as that's about all I can handle, or water, but being a coke addict, I went for that instead! We also ask the woman at the shop where the cab company was as Dan couldn't find it, and she's like it's round the corner. You can't begin to imagine how full of joy I was at the sight of the cab company! Tired of walking, and just want to sit somewhere and sleep! After eating something, ofcourse.
Anyways, so we book a cab from London Bridge to Purfleet, stopping at Dagenham, and it cost £55, which was to me, a very very good deal, Purfleet being as far away as it is, and it being late at night as well. So 3 of us get in the cab, and off we went. Dan is being very chatty, and I ask him about where he's head chef at. Turns out to be a nice cocktail bar at Soho Square, Barrio Central. He tells us about his boss, and that they've got a new menu coming out soon. He even gets us to add him on facebook, and Chris and I are like we'll definitely pop in one of these days. He even told us about his ex-girlfriend, about her being from Spain and them meeting here while she was doing her Ph.D. He then moves to Spain with her and starts working there, only for them to eventually break up. Ouch. He seemed a really nice dude, and to top it off, when we got to Dagenham, he actually paid half of the cab fare, which he didn't have to do, there being 3 of us, and him not going the full distance. So yeah, nice dude. He gets off, and we continue to Purfleet. Yay! Unluckily though, we got off at the wrong house! It was in quite a nice area, but there weren't any street signs- as far as we can see, anyways- and the SatNav seemed certain we had reached our destination. Tried calling Esther and our other friend who was at the party too, Oyinda, but couldn't get through to any of them! I'd changed into these ridiculous heels in the cab, and we had to try to figure out how to find the stupid house! Luckily for us, we could actually hear the music, so it was only a matter of finding how to get to the house, which we eventually did. Phew!
So the party was slated to start at 9pm, and what time did we get there? 2am! (Un)fashionably late, right?! I'm usually shy (anti-social) at parties and stuff, but nothing like an onerous journey and severe hunger to make you shyness (anti-socialness) disappear. I might have felt like crying, especially during the long walk to find a cab company, but it was actually good fun, the journey. I'd agonised for days, whether or not to go for the party and only decided to go, the night before, but I'm happy I did. It was quite the adventure, but it's stuff like that which make life interesting. (Admittedly, I'm a thrill-seeker and love adventure).
Had fun at the party though, even though we'd missed most of it (fine by me, actually. Anti-social, see?!). Party finished at about 4am, but we crashed at the house until about 6am, before then finding our way to Esther's in the morning, for another round of sleep. Adventure and party over.
Took some dodgy pictures with the camera on my (new) phone. I had my proper camera in my bag, but couldn't be bothered to use it, as I'd already dumped my slightly heavy bag in some room. Here are a few of the better ones:
Brother and sister:
Hungry (and now happy) girl and part of Chris' face:
Zainab, Chris and Esther:
Oyinda and I:
Esther and I, too-hungry-to-eat (True!)
Oyinda butting in and spoiling what would have been a good picture!:
Much better:
So I figured out a few things on Sautrday:
*How a car feels like when it's running on nothing but fumes
*Hunger and tiredness makes me hyper and less anti-social!
Anyways, high time I ended this blog before it gets any longer! (proof I'm back to my blogging ways, as long blogs have returned, woohoo!).
Thanks to that wonderful and lovely distraction called the World Cup, I haven't really suffered from the usual off-season Arsenal withdrawal symptoms, and I'm very ashamed to say I've hardly been on ATVO, and the last 2 Premier League games last season which I missed while I was away, I haven't watched. Not even a single highlight! So Carlos Vela's chip against Fulham, I can only imagine what it was like. I'm not sorry I haven't seen the highlights of the Blackburn game, though. The less seen or said about it, the better! But I'm sure I'm bound to relive that disaster sometime during the course of the season! Anyways...
Oh yeah, I was out for a party last week Saturday, and I've got a story to tell! Not so much about the party, but the getting there!
(It's quite a long tale, so why not listen to some music!? One of my favourite (and timeless) songs- Toploader's Dancing in the Moonlight! Please excuse the poor quality, but you only need to listen, ayways! ;-)
So it was Esther's brother's (denim and white themed) house party, all the way in some place in Eest London I'd never heard of before, Purfleet. The plan was to go to Chris' house first, as I don't live to far from him, watch the World Cup 3rd place play-off- Germany v Uruguay- then go to the party.
All was looking well and good. It was a really good game, and we even stayed a bit longer and watched James Corden's World Cup show. Don't really know what it's called as one always feels the urge to change the channel whenever the show comes on, but as our very own Arshavin was on it, why not?!
Anyways, we finally got our act together and left at about half 10 thereabouts, and got to Hatfield station. Just missed a train so had to catch the next one, which was at about 11pm. The plan was to find our way to Limehouse, then catch the C2C from there to Purfleet. Got to Limehouse, only to find we'd missed the last train to Purfleet. Apparently the last train was ages ago, too! The only way to go was back, so we went back a stop to Fenchurch station, hoping to find someone at the station who could I don't know, tell us an alternative route or something. Got there, and the advice was to take the train to Barking, then from there, either take the bus or a cab to Purfleet. Didn't sound like a bad idea, except that the next train wasn't for another 30 or so minutes, and this was already getting to midnight. So Chris and I decided to just cab it from where we were to Purfleet. How hard could that be, right?
Went outside the station to find one, but there wasn't any. The taxi ramp was empty and not being from London, didn't have any can numbers. So we spoke to a couple of the guys working at the station asking where to get a cab, and they're like there's a bus stop round the corner, you might find one there. So we get to the bus stop and not surprisingly, there wasn't any. We were just trying to get our bearings right when this 'not in service' bus stops in front of us. The bus driver- a really nice mature Caribbean dude, Jamaican I think- opens the door and is like, 'Do you know the last bus has gone already?', and he's like where are you going? So we tell him that we're trying to get to Purfleet and he's like jump on the bus, I'll drop you somewhere closeby, then take the bus 25 to Barking, which was really really nice of him. So he drops us off at a bus stop a few minutes away.
So we're at the bus stop trying to figure out where exactly we are and what direction we need to travel. Turns out we're close to Monument station. We do see a Bus 25, but I figured it'd be much quicker if we took the underground from there to Barking. So we don't get on the bus. We're about to start walking to the underground station, when this guy at the Bus stop is like 'Erm, it's a Saturday, the undergrounds are shut already'. Damn. We get talking, where are you going, blah blah blah. He was on his way to Dagenham, and he suggests we get on a cab together, since according to him, Dagenham's on the way to Purfleet. We're perfectly happy with this, because in all honesty, we really didn't have a clue which way to go or anything. Finding the cab is the problem, though.
There was this cab at the bus stop, an Addison Lee cab, but he's like he's not in service and gives us his company's number to call. Hurrah! But it's one of those 0844 numbers, which you can't dial on your contract phone, and you get charged some funny amount. But I had a pay as you go phone on me as well, so I decide to use that instead. It turns out to be one of those automated services, so I got put on hold for a bit, then finally got to speak to someone called Joel. But just as I'm about to finalise the whole thing, I run out of credit. Awesome. To make things worse, I was actually starving! And it's not your usual hunger, but the type where you're stomach is totally empty and you can't take a step without your stomach hurting. Really clueless to why I was that hungry, as I'd just eaten before we left, even though I didn't eat that much. But yeah, we're kinda stranded, and I'm dead hungry, and no shops or anything around are open. Two things I always have in my bag are a tube map and a bottle of water. Obviously, not the same bottle of water all the time, but a bottle of water. But this time around, I didn't have either, and desperately needed them! Water would have been absolutely fine for me at that stage, as I felt drinking lots of liquid was what I needed. Also needed a tube map really badly as I honestly didn't have any clue as to how near or far we were from our destination, or which direction we had to go! But thank God for smartphones! Was able to download a tube map (now permanently saved on my phone). Shame there's no water app!
Anyways, so the dude we met at the bus stop, Dan, is like he thinks there's a cab company around and that we should just walk in and book a cab there and then, so we start walking. I'm in absolute agony, but I didn't have much of a choice, anyways. So we start walking, and chat some more to Dan. Turns out it was his birthday that day, and he'd just been out with a few mates and was trying to get home. He's hungry too, and then tells us that he's a head chef! If only he had some sort of food on him, right? Anyways, we walk from Monument to London Bridge, and come across a Kebab shop! Awesome! I get myself a can of coke as that's about all I can handle, or water, but being a coke addict, I went for that instead! We also ask the woman at the shop where the cab company was as Dan couldn't find it, and she's like it's round the corner. You can't begin to imagine how full of joy I was at the sight of the cab company! Tired of walking, and just want to sit somewhere and sleep! After eating something, ofcourse.
Anyways, so we book a cab from London Bridge to Purfleet, stopping at Dagenham, and it cost £55, which was to me, a very very good deal, Purfleet being as far away as it is, and it being late at night as well. So 3 of us get in the cab, and off we went. Dan is being very chatty, and I ask him about where he's head chef at. Turns out to be a nice cocktail bar at Soho Square, Barrio Central. He tells us about his boss, and that they've got a new menu coming out soon. He even gets us to add him on facebook, and Chris and I are like we'll definitely pop in one of these days. He even told us about his ex-girlfriend, about her being from Spain and them meeting here while she was doing her Ph.D. He then moves to Spain with her and starts working there, only for them to eventually break up. Ouch. He seemed a really nice dude, and to top it off, when we got to Dagenham, he actually paid half of the cab fare, which he didn't have to do, there being 3 of us, and him not going the full distance. So yeah, nice dude. He gets off, and we continue to Purfleet. Yay! Unluckily though, we got off at the wrong house! It was in quite a nice area, but there weren't any street signs- as far as we can see, anyways- and the SatNav seemed certain we had reached our destination. Tried calling Esther and our other friend who was at the party too, Oyinda, but couldn't get through to any of them! I'd changed into these ridiculous heels in the cab, and we had to try to figure out how to find the stupid house! Luckily for us, we could actually hear the music, so it was only a matter of finding how to get to the house, which we eventually did. Phew!
So the party was slated to start at 9pm, and what time did we get there? 2am! (Un)fashionably late, right?! I'm usually shy (anti-social) at parties and stuff, but nothing like an onerous journey and severe hunger to make you shyness (anti-socialness) disappear. I might have felt like crying, especially during the long walk to find a cab company, but it was actually good fun, the journey. I'd agonised for days, whether or not to go for the party and only decided to go, the night before, but I'm happy I did. It was quite the adventure, but it's stuff like that which make life interesting. (Admittedly, I'm a thrill-seeker and love adventure).
Had fun at the party though, even though we'd missed most of it (fine by me, actually. Anti-social, see?!). Party finished at about 4am, but we crashed at the house until about 6am, before then finding our way to Esther's in the morning, for another round of sleep. Adventure and party over.
Took some dodgy pictures with the camera on my (new) phone. I had my proper camera in my bag, but couldn't be bothered to use it, as I'd already dumped my slightly heavy bag in some room. Here are a few of the better ones:
Brother and sister:
Hungry (and now happy) girl and part of Chris' face:
Zainab, Chris and Esther:
Oyinda and I:
Esther and I, too-hungry-to-eat (True!)
Oyinda butting in and spoiling what would have been a good picture!:
Much better:
So I figured out a few things on Sautrday:
*How a car feels like when it's running on nothing but fumes
*Hunger and tiredness makes me hyper and less anti-social!
Anyways, high time I ended this blog before it gets any longer! (proof I'm back to my blogging ways, as long blogs have returned, woohoo!).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)